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Alexei Navalny: Putin鈥檚 Rival Reported Dead

Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was President Putin鈥檚 main rival.

Putin鈥檚 main rival, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, is dead according to the Russian prison service. An outspoken critic of the Russian leader, Navalny, 47, was serving a 19-year sentence in a Siberian jail when his death was announced on Friday morning.

成人快手 correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who was herself expelled from Russia, explains what we know so far - and if the Kremlin could face any consequences. And Georgian-Russian writer Boris Akunin, a long-standing critic of Putin and personal friend of Navalny, gives his reaction to the news.

Today鈥檚 episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.

It was made by Keiligh Baker. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Ivana Davidovic, Tim Walklate and Cordelia Hemming. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Lucy Boast. The senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.

Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast鈥檚 Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

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