Convoy raid

Secret plan to free Navalny revealed

The late opposition figure Alexei Navalny

(Bild: AP)

According to its own statements, the militant group "Russian Volunteer Corps" wanted to get the recently deceased Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny out of prison. The anti-Putin militia, which is classified as far-right, had concrete plans in which "supporters from the ranks of the law enforcement authorities" are also said to have been involved.

The Siberian penal colony "Polar Wolf", where Navalny was last imprisoned and where he died last week under mysterious circumstances, is known for its brutal prison conditions. Freezing temperatures of up to minus 20 degrees are the norm in the remote camp - the cold alone makes it difficult to break out of the prison. 

The deceased opposition activist Alexei Navalny

(Bild: Associated Press)

Right-wing militia wanted to bring Navalny to Ukraine
This is why the "Russian Volunteer Corps" wanted to carry out a rescue operation even before Navalny was transferred to the "Polar Wolf". The anti-Kremlin group announced on Tuesday that it had planned to free Navalny from captivity and then take him to Ukraine, as reported by The Moscow Times.

The penal colony in the town of Kharp, also known as the "polar wolf"

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The prison from the inside

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Lesson in the "polar wolf"

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Convoy should have been intercepted
The plan was to intercept the prison convoy that had transported Navalny from a prison in central Russia to the Siberian penal colony in December. "We should then immediately cross the border to Ukraine, meet with the secret service unit of the Volunteer Corps to cross the border and get asylum," it said in a statement.

Multiple postponements thwarted plan
The mission ultimately failed due to "effective" security precautions by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service and the domestic secret service. In addition, the time for Navalny's transfer was not clear: "The date and time of the transfer were postponed several times," the militia said. The transfer was ultimately carried out so quickly that the group "did not have time to move to the area where the operation had been planned".

Members of the "Russian Volunteer Corps" at a media event in Ukraine near the Russian border

(Bild: AFP)

"Unfortunately, we did not manage to save Alexei"
The militia also explained that they were in the process of revising the plan to free Navalny when the prison authorities announced his death. "Unfortunately, we did not manage to save Alexei, but hundreds of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience remain in captivity," the group said, announcing that it would free other prisoners "in one way or another from the clutches of the regime".

The itinerary chosen for Navalny's prisoner transport to the penal camp eventually spanned 20 days and included stops in at least five Russian cities, Navalny revealed after his transfer.

The "Russian Volunteer Corps" is a far-right underground group that is also said to have a unit in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. It denies that members of the militia are fighting for it. The group claims on social media to stand for a "genuine nation state of Russians in the original Russian territories, taking into account the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Belarus as well as neighboring countries". It is aiming to overthrow President Vladimir Putin.