Putin amid reelection victory mentions Navalny for first time since prison death, 'It happens'

Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday, on his way to a landslide reelection victory, spoke of Alexei Navalny for the first time since his opposition leader died in an Arctic penal colony.  

Navalny was initially sentenced in 2022 to nine years in prison on embezzlement charges, then sentenced last year to an additional 19 years for "extremism."

The 47-year-old died of so-far-unknown causes in the remote prison. Russia officials announced his death Feb. 16.

“It happens," Putin said Monday. "There is nothing you can do about it. It’s life."

Putin, set to serve as president for at least another six years, also said he supported negotiation to release Navalny in a prisoner exchange just days before his death, following news reports that was indeed behind such a deal.

Putin's comments Monday about the Navalny were in fact his first in years he spoke about the dissedant, according to the Associated Press.

With voting ending Sunday, Putin had over 87% of the votes in a race with no competition, after years of suppressing the opposition and independent media, the wire service also reports.