Putin foe Alexei Navalny dies in jail, West holds Russia responsible

FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accused of fraud and contempt of court, his lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev are seen on a screen via a video link during a court hearing at the IK-2 corrective penal colony in the town of Pokrov in Vladimir Region, Russia March 22, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence, authorities said.

The death of Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, robs the disparate Russian opposition of its most prominent leader as Putin prepares for an election which will keep the former KGB spy in power until at least 2030.