US President Joe Biden says he holds Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible after the Russian prison service announced that opposition figure Alexey Navalny has died in prison.
Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalnys death, he said. Putin does not only target citizens of other countries, as weve seen in whats going on in Ukraine right now he also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people, the president added.
The president said he was outraged by the news.
Navalny bravely stood up to the corruption, the violence, and all the bad things that the Putin government was doing. In response, Putin had him poisoned, he had him arrested, he had him prosecuted for fabricated crimes, Biden said.
Even in prison, he was a powerful voice for the truth, he said.
He could have lived safely in exile after the assassination attempt on him in 2020, which nearly killed him, he said. Instead, he returned to Russia knowing hed likely be imprisoned, maybe killed if he continued his work. But he did it anyway. Because he believed so deeply in his country, in Russia, the president continued.