Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny is now in a penal camp in northern Russia after going missing for more than two weeks, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh says on X.

He had once again failed to appear at a court hearing via video link on December 18, aides said, heightening fears about his fate.

President Vladimir Putin‘s most outspoken critic had not been seen by his lawyers for almost two weeks prior to the planned hearing.

Russian government authorities had refused to disclose where he was or fully explain his absence.

It now transpires he has been transferred from the IK-6 penal colony east of Moscow to the IK-3 facility in Kharp in the far north of Russia, 2,000 kilometres from Moscow.

“He’s all right,” his spokeswoman wrote.