Associates of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny say the outspoken Kremlin critic was placed in punitive solitary confinement for 10 days for "failing to promptly introduce himself to a prison guard."
It's Navalny's second placement in solitary confinement at the Polar Wolf prison in Russia's Arctic region, where he was transferred last month.
Navalny also disclosed that at 5 a.m. every morning he is forced to listen to the Russian national anthem and a patriotic song by a pop singer and supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The singer, Shaman, whose real name is Yaroslav Dronov, has become a staple on Russian state TV with his song I Am Russian, including lyrics of how Russians cannot "be broken."
Navalny said on X, formerly Twitter, that everyone knows the song and many parodies of it have been recorded. He said that when it is played at the prison "as an educational activity for correctional purposes," he exercises to it.
The January 22 news about Navalny's return to solitary confinement comes a day after supporters rallied in dozens of cities across the world to mark the third anniversary of his arrest and to demand his immediate release.
In the Czech capital, Prague, about 50 activists, including several Belarusians and Ukrainians, rallied on Old Town Square, reading out messages from Navalny and other opposition politicians and activists incarcerated in Russia. The demonstrators chanted "Free all political prisoners," "Free Aleksei Navalny," "Russia without Putin," and "Russia will be free!"
SEE ALSO: On Third Anniversary Of Arrest, Navalny Says Putin's Power Structure 'Built On Lies'Navalny, who nearly died from a poisoning with Novichok-type nerve agent in 2020, which he blames on Russian agents acting at the behest of President Vladimir Putin, was detained on January 17, 2021, at a Moscow airport upon his arrival from Germany, where he was treated for the poisoning.
He was then handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole during his convalescence abroad. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny's poisoning.
The original conviction is widely regarded as a trumped-up, politically motivated case.
In March 2022, Navalny was handed a nine-year prison term on charges of contempt and embezzlement that he and his supporters have repeatedly rejected as politically motivated.
Later, Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and his network of regional offices were declared "extremist" organizations and banned after his arrest, which led to another case against him on extremism charges.
In August last year, a court extended Navalny's prison term to 19 years and sent him to a harsher "special regime" facility from the maximum-security prison where he was held.
Last month, Navalny was transferred to such a prison in Russia's Arctic region.