KREMLIN CRITIC NAVALNY GIVES FIRST INTERVIEW FROM PRISON CAMP

The 45-year-old Russian opposition figure told The New York Times in an interview published on Wednesday that the days of heavy labour in Soviet gulags were over – replaced by what he called the “psychological violence” of brainwashing and propaganda.

“You might imagine tattooed muscle men with steel teeth carrying on with knife fights to take the best cot by the window,” Navalny was quoted as saying in the interview.

“You need to imagine something like a Chinese labour camp, where everybody marches in a line and where video cameras are hung everywhere. There is constant control and a culture of snitching.”

He said guards monitored them as they watched hours of state propaganda, not allowing them to read or write and waking inmates if they fell asleep.

“Sooner or later, this mistake will be fixed, and Russia will move on to a democratic, European path of development. Simply because that is what the people want,” he said.

He also repeated criticisms of the United States and European governments for sanctions on Russia, which he said harm Russian people rather than those in power.

He said he has not been assaulted by any fellow prisoners, and even described having “fun” making snacks with them.

Navalny has not been silent since his jailing in March, releasing a letter from prison and also managing several social media posts, but the interview with the Times was the first since his imprisonment.

Western intelligence agencies have assessed with “high confidence” that FSB officers poisoned Navalny with the nerve agent Novichok last year.

The dissident was flown to Germany for treatment but defiantly returned to Russia in January, only to be arrested and sent to the penal colony.

According to the verdict of the court case brought against him, he violated parole requirements in Russia during his time in Germany. The sentence was widely criticised internationally as politically motivated.

The Kremlin has denied poisoning Navalny and has maintained his prison sentence is not political.

His movement has faced unprecedented pressure before September parliamentary polls in Russia, in which Putin’s United Russia party is expected to struggle.