No news from Navalny for a week, Putin spokesman Peskov says Kremlin “can't track prisoners”

The associates of the incarcerated politician Alexei Navalny, who was serving a lengthy sentence in the IK-6 penal colony in Russia’s Vladimir Region and is now “not listed” at the facility, have been unable to contact him for a week. Asked whether the Kremlin was aware of Navalny's whereabouts, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president, said that the Kremlin didn't deal with such matters.

“No, we have neither the intention nor the ability to monitor the fate of prisoners and the process of their stay in the relevant institutions,” Peskov was cited by the government-run TASS news agency as saying.

Putin's spokesman added that the Kremlin considers it unacceptable for the U.S. or any other country to interfere in the situation surrounding Navalny.

Navalny's lawyer at the IK-6 penal colony was earlier informed that the politician was no longer listed there as a prisoner. The prison authorities refused to say where he had been transferred. According to spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, Navalny collapsed in his cell after feeling dizzy in early December, and was administered an IV [intravenous drip — translator’s note]. Communication with Navalny ceased after the incident — he was no longer connected to court hearings via video link, nor did he send or receive correspondence from his legal team or associates.