Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny found

Associates of the Russian opposition leader said on Monday that they discovered him in a prison colony above the Arctic Circle, near the town of Kharp, roughly 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow. They had lost contact with him on Dec. 6. He had previously been serving out a 19-year sentence less than 150 miles away from Moscow for extremism-related charges that he’d received earlier this year.

Why is Navalny up in the Arctic Circle? He is widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most serious opponent. He disappeared shortly before Putin said he would be seeking re-election. The prison colony where Navalny is now located is one of the most isolated in Russia.

Dig deeper: Read William Inboden’s column in WORLD Opinions about how the United States should be supporting Ukraine and Israel against foreign aggression.