Imprisoned Briton Vladimir Kara-Murza 'is clearly next' on Putin's hit list after Navalny left his wife 'fearing for his life'
Fears are growing for the jailed British Kremlin critic who is “clearly next” on Putin's assassination list following the sudden death of Alexei Navalny.
Vladimir Kara-MurzaThe 42-year-old man, who was sentenced last April to 25 years in a hellish Siberian prison, is both “very sick” and a “prime target” for the despot, an expert has warned The Sun.
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Kara-Murza owns both a British and Russian passport and worked as a prominent opposition politician in Moscow before being imprisoned last year on trumped-up charges of treason.
He was a close aide to the murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov– who was shot dead by a killing squad in Moscow in 2015 – and an outspoken critic of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Dr. Stepan Stepanenko, head of the Forward Strategy foreign policy think tank, told The Sun he believes he is Putin's “next” target.
“Vladimir Kara-Murza is imprisoned on false charges, he is very ill and after Navalny it is clear that he is next”
The father of three, who grew up and studied in Britain, subsequently suffered from a nervous disorder two poisonings in 2015 and 2017 he blamed the Kremlin.
“He could even die before he is killed,” Stepanenko said. “Kara-Murza's fight is not just against his captors, but against time itself.
“Stricken by polyneuropathy, the grim reality is that he may never be reunited with his family.”
Britain must take action to save him, he said. “We have a British citizen in Russian prison.”
Kara-Murza is heartbroken wife, Evgenia, also spoke out this weekend, telling the world she fears her husband's “life is in danger.”
She revealed she is terrified he will suffer the same fate as Putin's greatest enemy Navalnywhat Russia is now claiming died of “sudden death syndrome” and whose heavily guarded body was reportedly found covered with bruises.
'I have been afraid for my husband's life since at least 2015, since that first phone call I received about Vladimir's collapse. Moscow and enter [a] coma with multiple organ failure for no reason,” she told the BBC.
“I've been sleeping with my phone ever since, for fear of another one of those calls.
“I believe my husband's life is in danger, as are the lives of many other political prisoners in Russian prisons.”
Evgenia said Kara-Murza and other jailed dissidents suffering from “serious medical conditions” were denied proper medical treatment “to worsen the health condition.”
She added that although she is scared, she will always fight for her husband's release.
“Continuing the struggle is important, telling the stories of the people suffering under the regime is important.”
The former activist and journalist was sentenced to 25 years in April 2023 Putin's accomplices for spreading “false” information about The Russian war in Ukraine.
He denied all accusations and compared the case against him to a Stalinist show trial.
He was arrested just weeks after Russia's massive invasion and just hours after CNN aired an interview with him in which he said Russia was ruled by “a regime of murderers.”
Russia expert Dr. Stepanenko said: “Putin considers Kara-Murza a formidable opponent.
“Navalny's explosive exposés on Putin's lavish lifestyle were a thorn in the side, but Kara-Murza struck at the heart of Putin's empire by standing up for [US sanctions against Moscow]which will deal a severe blow to Russia's economic ambitions well before 2022.
“In Putin's eyes, losing money and power is equivalent to losing his life, making Kara-Murza a prime target for his attack.”
In January, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he was “deeply concerned” about the fate of the dissident after he – similar to Navalny in December – suddenly disappeared from his prison cell.
Evgenia later discovered that he had been transferred to a new Siberian prison and immediately placed in a punishment block.
His only crime was not getting up in time when the guard ordered him to “get up” and he was punished with a “malicious trespass,” according to the letter he wrote to his lawyer.
The Cambridge graduate has now spent four months in painful solitary confinement.
According to human rights group OVD-Info, more than 160 Russian citizens have been imprisoned for opposing the war, but Kara-Murza's sentence is the harshest yet.
Between February 24, 2022 and January 28, 2024, a total of 19,854 Russians were arrested for speaking out or demonstrating against the invasion.
Shortly after Kara-Murza was convicted last year, The Sun spoke to Evgenia, who pressed for her husband would never give up his fight.
She described how he had already survived two assassination attempts, which she said were carried out on Putin's direct orders.
“He was poisoned twice by an unknown substance. Both times it happened in Moscow,” she said.
“He suddenly developed very strange symptoms and ended up in a coma with multiple organ failure.
“Both times he was given a five percent chance of survival. He was lucky to survive the times thanks to the very dedicated team of doctors who treated him.”
He then suffered severe nerve damage and had to relearn how to do simple tasks like buttoning his shirt and pouring tea, but both times he quickly returned to work.
She told The Sun that her jailed husband is not brave, but “stubborn.”
That stubbornness, Evgenia said, also stems from her husband's genuine love for his country.
“My husband is a true Russian patriot and he has fought for years to bring about change in our country,” she said.
In Kara-Murza's final speech in court after his conviction, he said he had “failed” at only one thing.
Failing to “convince enough of my compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses to Russia and to the world.”
He compared today's Russia to that of the Soviet Union in the 1930s, when Stalin carried out a series of repressive show trials and purges of his political opponents.
“For me, as a historian, this is cause for thought,” he said. 'Criminals must show remorse for what they have done.
“On the other hand, I am in prison because of my political views. I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will disappear.”
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Navalny's death was 'inevitable'
By Jerome Starkey, The Sun's defense editor
NAVALNY's death is shocking, but there is also a sense of inevitability.
His spokesman had warned that they believed he was being slowly murdered in prison.
And indeed, the lifespan of Kremlin critics is tragically short.
It was in many ways astonishing that Alexei Navalny had survived.
The president of Latvia called this a brutal murder by the Kremlin.
We've had President Zelensky of Ukraine say Putin killed him.
German Chancellor Olaf Schulz and the French Foreign Minister say Navalny paid for his principles with his life.
There is certainly no doubt that this is the result of his political activism. As a result of daring to stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Alexei Navalny exposed himself to enormous risks and hardships. We know he was poisoned.
We know he's in jail. He is being held under horrible conditions. You know indeed.
Many, many days of his time in this penal colony were spent in solitary confinement in punishment cells.
His health appears to be deteriorating. So in that sense he has been imprisoned by the regime that Putin leads.
He has been poisoned with a nerve agent, a military-grade nerve agent that is actually only available to Putin's assassins.
And that would clearly have had long-term health consequences. In that sense, the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is clearly responsible for his death.
It is not yet clear what exactly caused his death. But there is no doubt that the Kremlin regime, led by Vladimir Putin, is to some extent to blame for what they did.
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