Before Russian prison authorities announced the reported demise of vocal Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny in a secluded penal colony, the opposition leader and consistent thorn in President Vladimir Putin's side was seen in a courtroom looking happy and healthy, according to CBS News.
"Your honor, I will send you my personal account number so that you can use your huge federal judge's salary to fuel my personal account, because I am running out of money, and thanks to your decisions, it will run out even faster," a smiling Navalny said into the camera beaming his image into the Moscow courtroom. "So, send it over."
Navalny, who survived at least two suspected poisonings in his role as an anti-corruption activist and political opposition leader, passed away in the remote IK-3 penal colony.
The Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District reported that he went for a walk, suddenly "felt unwell," and then collapsed "almost immediately."
"Medical workers from the institution arrived immediately and an emergency medical team was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but did not yield positive results," the prison authority said in a statement obtained by CBS.
"Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the convict."
On Friday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called reports that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died in a Russian prison "terrible news," and declared "Russia is responsible."
"We've all just received reports that Alexey Navalny has died in Russia. This is, of course, terrible news, which we are working to confirm," Harris said as she began her remarks.
Why is the United States particularly concerned about the death of Alexey Navalny?
CNN reports Navalny has long been a point of contention between the U.S. and Russia. President Joe Biden previously told reporters in 2021 that he warned Putin that the consequences would be "devastating for Russia," if Navalny died in prison.
Harris faced the challenging responsibility of providing reassurance to the U.S. and its allies on the international stage amid legislative challenges in providing aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Complicating matters, the potential withdrawal of support from NATO allies by former President Donald Trump heightened diplomatic uncertainties.
It was another high-profile moment for Harris to address the Munich Security Conference Friday amid a significant moment in U.S. foreign policy. Ongoing conflicts overseas are only agitating domestic politics.
It also comes at a delicate time for the White House, which is currently dealing with the fallout of the special counsel report questioning President Joe Biden's mental acuity and placing more focus on Vice President Harris.
After her opening statements on Navalny, Harris progressed into her prepared remarks to help reassure American allies over the future of US foreign policy.
Harris confirmed Friday that the U.S. commitment to NATO remains "ironclad" in the wake of Trump's comments encouraging Russia to invade countries that don't meet NATO obligations.
"Imagine if America turned our back on Ukraine and abandoned our NATO allies and abandoned our treaty commitments. Imagine if we went easy on Putin. Let alone encouraged him," Harris continued.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told NPR on Friday that the U.S. is working to confirm Navalny's death.
