Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent opponent of the Russian president Vladimir Putin serving a 25-year prison sentence, was transferred from a penal colony in Siberia to a prison hospital.
The transfer was announced Friday by Kara-Murza’s lawyers and wife. The condition of the 42-year-old, who has been in poor health for some time, is unclear.
Lawyers for the British-Russian citizen said they were denied access to their client, who is being held in the Omsk detention camp.
In February, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died in a prison camp in Russia’s Arctic region. Other political prisoners in Russia have also complained of particularly harsh prison conditions that have led to health problems.
Kara-Murza’s wife, Yevgeniya, said her husband was suffering from a chronic illness after two poisoning attacks. In a post on X, she described how lawyers had been trying in vain to see the opposition activist since Thursday.
Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison for high treason in April 2023.
He was detained in April 2022 after returning to Russia from abroad amid the Kremlin’s increasing crackdown on civil society.
According to state media, citing investigative circles, he is said to have helped organizations from NATO countries to undermine Russia’s national security in exchange for payment.
He was also accused of discrediting the Russian military, which earned him a lengthy prison sentence.
Kara-Murza, who is internationally recognized as a political prisoner, has been criticizing Putin’s policies and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine for years.
