Alexei Navalny looks gaunt as he appears in court following hunger strike

29 April 2021, 13:34

Alexei Navalny is seen on a TV screen during a court hearing
Russia Navalny. Picture: PA

Even though the quality of the video link was poor, it was visibly clear that the politician has lost a lot of weight.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been seen in public for the first time in a month as he appeared in court via video link.

Mr Navalny was seen in the link from prison during an appeal against his conviction and fine for defaming a Second World War veteran. The politician was convicted in February.

It was his first public appearance since his transfer to a penal colony in March.

Even though the quality of the video link was poor, it was visibly clear that the politician has lost a lot of weight. His head was shaven clean, and he wore a prison uniform and glasses.

Yulia Navalny attended the court hearing
Yulia Navalny attended the court hearing (Babuskinsky District Court Press Service via AP)

Mr Navalny took an active part in the court hearing and spoke energetically despite his gaunt appearance.

During a break, he asked his wife, Yulia, who was present at the hearing, to stand up so he could see her. He told her he is now eating several spoons of porridge each day — part of winding down his hunger strike.

“When we saw each other during visitation (in the colony), I weighed two kilograms more — it was 74 (163lbs) and now it’s 72 (159lbs),” Mr Navalny said.

“Seventy-two suits you better than 74,” Yulia responded with a smile.

In his statement to the court, Mr Navalny referred to President Vladimir Putin as “the emperor with no clothes” and charged that Russia under his rule “continues to degrade every year”.

Navalny poster in Russia
A police officer speaks on the phone near a poster of Alexei Navalny in St Petersburg (Ivan Petrov/AP)

Shortly after his emotional speech, the judge rejected the appeal.

Mr Navalny’s court appearance came as one of his top allies said a network of the politician’s offices in Russia was being closed as authorities seek to have it and his Foundation for Fighting Corruption outlawed as extremist groups.

The Moscow prosecutor’s office petitioned a court this month to declare both the regional offices and Mr Navalny’s anti-corruption organisation as extremist groups, a label that would outlaw their activities, expose members and supporters to lengthy prison terms, and pose a major challenge for Mr Navalny’s embattled team.

Leonid Volkov, who as Mr Navalny’s top strategist runs the regional offices, said that preserving the network in its current state “is impossible” because of the extremism charges but rebranding them would not help either.

“Unfortunately, it is impossible to work in these conditions. We’re officially dismantling the network of Navalny’s headquarters,” Mr Volkov said on the messaging app Telegram.

Mr Volkov’s statement comes amid a sweeping crackdown on Mr Navalny, President Putin’s fiercest critic, and his organisations. Dozens of his aides and associates have been arrested, targeted for raids by law enforcement, or are facing criminal charges.

Leonid Volkov
Leonid Volkov, a top strategist for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (AP)

While imprisoned, Mr Navalny said he developed severe back pain and numbness in his limbs, and he spent more than three weeks on a hunger strike to protest against authorities refusing to allow his doctor see him. Instead, they moved him to another prison with a hospital ward.

Mr Volkov assured supporters that Mr Navalny’s team was not giving up.

“The networks of Navalny’s headquarters doesn’t exist anymore, but there are dozens of strong and tough regional politicians, thousands of his supporters, there are strong and independent political organisations which will work on investigations and elections, public campaigns and rallies. You will help them, and they will succeed,” he said.

Mr Navalny was arrested in January upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin — accusations that Russian officials reject.

His arrest triggered protests across Russia that proved to be the biggest show of defiance in years. But they did not stop authorities from putting Mr Navalny on trial for violating the terms of a suspended sentence while he was in Germany.

The sentence stemmed from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Mr Navalny has characterszed as politically motivated.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Video footage shows the convoy had emergency lights flashing when it was hit

Israel admits ‘mistakenly’ killing 15 aid workers after video leak contradicted official version of events

Jaguar Land Rover has paused shipments to the US in the wake of 'Liberation Day' tariffs

Jaguar Land Rover halts shipments to US in wake of tariffs as Trump insists he'll win 'economic revolution'

Flowers and toys left on a swing seat to commemorate victims killed in Russia's missile attack on Friday

Death toll from Russian strike on Zelenskyy's home town rises as 18 confirmed dead - including nine children

Donald Trump's 10% tariff on UK products has officially come into force

Trump tariffs come into force as global stock markets plunge deeper into the red

Tom Howard

British tourist killed after being struck by boulder on trek through Himalayas

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, a car burns following a Russian missile attack that killed more than a dozen people, including children, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, April 4, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia kills 16 people including three children in missile strike on Zelenskyy's home town, with dozens wounded

Travel influencer Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, made an illegal visit to North Sentinel Island

Tourist who left Coke for world's most isolated tribe 'could have wiped them all out' - and police 'can't go collect can'

White House weighs in to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

White House looking to support ‘censored’ anti-abortion activists in Britain

This image provided by NASA shows Nick Hague, right, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore. (NASA via AP)

Stranded NASA astronauts reveal they were almost trapped in space 'forever' after horror malfunction

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen'

Donald Trump demands France 'free Marine Le Pen' after far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement in 'witch hunt'

China will impose a 34% retaliatory tariff on imports from the US

China announces additional 34% tariffs on US imports in retaliation over Trump's 'Liberation Day' levies

Friends of Prince Andrew say he's "unsurprised" Giuffre made the post

Prince Andrew 'not surprised' his accuser shared shock post saying she had 'four days to live'

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol removed from office as impeachment upheld over martial law declaration

Virginia Giuffre

Woman driving Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre during crash that left her with 'four days to live' breaks silence

Exclusive
'Donald Trump has made Putin comfortable,' Mikhail Khodorkovsky has warned

'Trump has made Putin comfortable' despite massive Ukraine war losses, exiled former oligarch tells LBC

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour.

British couple found dead in south of France home being ‘treated as murder-suicide’