Lawyer: prison administration says Navalny will face another criminal case. Prison officers hit him in the crotch

The administration of the prison in Russia’s Vladimir region where Russian politician Alexey Navalny is serving his prison sentence has announced that he will face a new criminal case on the charge of destabilising activities of an institution that ensures isolation of people from the rest of society, Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev tweeted.

Kobzev claims that the prison management set up a “provocation”. After Navalny refused to enter the cell where fellow convict Tatarchenko (who had not used or been allowed to use hygiene products for a while) was placed, a quick-response team in bulletproof vests and helmets arrived on the site, and forcibly dragged him into the cell.

“Navalny did not put up any resistance but still was hit in the crotch with a knee (it can also be seen in video footage),” the lawyer wrote.

Kobzev added that convict Tatarchenko who is sharing the cell with Navalny “was driven to an absolute animal-like state” and that the “stench in the cell made it virtually impossible to enter it”.

Navalny himself earlier shared that a person who had not been allowed access to personal hygiene products became his cellmate.

“No toothpaste, no toilet paper. Well, you already realised that he was transferred to my cell after spending time in the medical ward. This person is used as a cotton pellet with bacteria,” the politician revealed.

Alexey Navalny has been imprisoned for more than two years now. Over this time, Navalny has repeatedly been subjected to sharing personal space with another convict who has been previously placed in a hospital ward for flu and covid patients. This punishment led to Navalny’s falling ill in January.

In February, his lawyer said that the politician had been placed in a cell-type space for a maximum possible term of six months. Navalny’s representatives then also said that he was given “huge doses” of antibiotics which caused stomach complications and shedding 7 kg of weight.