(): Allies of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny sounded the alarm on Monday, saying that neither they nor the politician’s lawyers have heard from him in six days. Navalny, who is serving a 19-year term on charges of extremism, was due to appear in court Monday via video link but didn’t, spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said. She said prison officials cited electricity problems. Lawyers in recent days also haven’t been able to access Navalny, according to Yarmysh.

“It is already the sixth straight day that we don’t know where Alexei is and what is happening to him,” Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Navalny, 47, has been behind bars since January 2021. As President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe, he campaigned against official corruption and organised major anti-Kremlin protests. His arrest came upon his return to Moscow from Germany, where he recuperated from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.

Navalny has since been handed three prison terms and spent months in isolation in a penal colony in the Vladimir region east of Moscow for alleged minor infractions. He has rejected all charges against him as politically motivated.

Yarmysh said on Friday that the developments were concerning given that Navalny recently fell ill: “He felt dizzy and lay down on the floor. Prison officials rushed to him, unfolded the bed, put Alexei on it and gave him an IV drip. We don’t know what caused it, but given that he’s being deprived of food, kept in a cell without ventilation and has been offered minimal outdoor time, it looks like fainting out of hunger.”