Navalny Vanishes from Prison as Putin Launches Re-election Bid
• Navalny has disappeared from the penal colony where he was imprisoned, and his current location is unknown • His supporters link the timing to the start of Putin's re-election campaign, seeing it as an attempt to silence Navalny • Navalny was sentenced to an additional 19 years in prison in August on top of an existing 11.5-year sentence • His isolation has deepened with the arrest of 3 of his lawyers on "extremist" charges in October • Navalny earned admiration for voluntarily returning to Russia from Germany after treatment for a nerve agent poisoning attempt