Aide Says Navalny's Fate May Rest On His Value To Putin As Bargaining Tool

Alexei Navalny's survival may depend on his value to Vladimir Putin as a future bargaining chip, his chief aide has said, warning the Russian opposition leader's health is at risk after he was put in indefinite solitary confinement.

- Dan Sabbagh

Leonid Volkov, speaking on a visit to London, said Navalny had lost access to his family and was being permanently detained in an "eight by 12ft" cell after the isolation decision by Russian authorities last week. Only Navalny's lawyers were allowed to visit his prison colony, on weekdays, and even then, Volkov said, they were "not allowed to see him; they only can talk to him through an opaque glass", meaning they could not determine his physical condition.

Volkov said it was felt that Navalny had previously enjoyed some degree of protection because he could regularly get his message out from inside prison and so keep up his profile inside and outside Russia.

Allies maintain a Twitter feed comprising Navalny's communication to his lawyers, but they worry it may become infrequent, or that his strength may falter and he will slowly fade from public attention. "Now the situation is, I have to admit, very bad, because now his communication with the outside world is very limited, and his health is endangered and his physical condition might get worse," Volkov said, adding: "We have to keep talking about Navalny."