The daughter of Russian politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, Dasha, 21, published an emotional letter in Times magazine on Wednesday warning that her father is "in mortal danger" and denouncing the inhumane conditions of imprisonment of the opponent, who on November 17 was transferred to a solitary cell after spending more than two months in isolation. "He now has access to two books instead of one and to use the prison kiosk, although with a very limited budget," nor can he receive visits from his relatives, Dasha says.
The young woman, who is studying at California's Stanford University, claims to be "proud" of her father and to walk "with her head held high" knowing that despite the inhumane conditions, he has faced Putin's war in Ukraine and has called on the Russian people to do everything in their power to combat it."
Navalnaya assures that her entire family has paid the price for defending freedom of expression in a country where the government persecutes dissent, but that they have known how to combat fear and bad times with "optimism" and "humour".
The daughter of the Russian opponent urges international leaders to demand that the Russian government release her father and calls to "defeat" Putin. Navalny "has shown that he is willing to sacrifice his freedom, his health and even his life for Russia to become a democratic and prosperous country," she concludes.
The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions against eight other Russian citizens accused of being linked to Navalny's poisoning, targeting senior officials from the FSB intelligence service and chemical weapons experts.
Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent during a campaign trip in Siberia in 2020, according to analyzes carried out by several European medical institutions. The Kremlin denied his involvement. "Regarding the Navalny case, the new lists include agents and high-ranking officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB, for its acronym in Russian) and Russian chemical weapons experts," the EU said in a statement. .
Navalny, the most prominent domestic critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was detained when he returned to Russia in early 2021 after months of medical treatment in Germany.
He is currently serving prison terms totaling 11 1/2 years for fraud, contempt of court, and violation of probation, all of which he rejects as trumped-up charges designed to silence him.
Navalny has long been a thorn in Putin's side, campaigning against endemic corruption in Russia in witty and cleverly produced videos that drew huge international audiences on social media.
