Aleksei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian political activist and anti-corruption crusader, says he has been moved again to solitary confinement in the prison colony where he is being held.
Navalny, who is being held in a facility about 260 kilometers east of Moscow, made the statement in a series of posts to Twitter on August 24. It’s believed the posts were published by his allies or supporters.
He is serving an 11 1/2-year sentence after being convicted of fraud in a prosecution that has been condemned by his supporters and by officials outside of Russia, who say it is an attempt to silence one of the Kremlin's most vocal opponents.
Last week, Navalny said he had been ordered to an isolation cell for failing to button the top button on his prison uniform, which he said was too small for him.
On August 24, he said he was ordered back to the isolation unit after authorities accused him of failing to keep his hands behind his back for three seconds during a walk through the camp.
"The directive obviously came from Moscow," his Twitter post said. “Even by the standards of a Russian prison, sending one to the punishment cell just for 3 seconds without hands behind their back is too much.”
He recently announced a plan to establish a trade union at the prison, which he said angered the authorities.
"Here I sit once again in my hellish closet with a mug and a book. It's kind of boring, of course. I think I need to learn how to meditate,” he wrote.
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5 Things To Know About Russian Opposition Leader Aleksei Navalny
In 2020, Navalny nearly died after falling suddenly ill while traveling in Siberia. Doctors in Germany later determined that he had been exposed to a Soviet-era nerve agent known as Novichok.
Last year, after recovering, he voluntarily returned to Russia, and he was arrested and prosecuted again.
Russia denies trying to kill him.