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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for Alexei Navalny's death.
"This has been an appalling atrocity," he said of the Russian opposition leader who was found dead in prison on Friday.
"This is a brave man who stood up for democratic values and human rights in Russia in his country.
"His treatment is just beyond the pale and we hold Vladimir Putin responsible for that," Mr Albanese said.
Mr Navalny's spokesperson confirmed he had died at a remote Arctic penal colony.
The spokesperson alleges Navalny was murdered, but doctors are yet to reveal the cause of death.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong told her department to call Russia's ambassador to outline the Australian government's serious concerns over Mr Navalny's death.
Across Russia, many people have taken to the streets to protest against Mr Navalny's death and lay flowers in tribute to him.
More than 400 people have been detained at events across 32 Russian cities, according to rights group OVD-Info.
The largest numbers of arrests have been in St Petersburg and Moscow.
As of 6am on Sunday, more than 200 people had been detained in St Petersburg.
It has been the largest wave of arrests at political events in Russia since September 2022, when more than 1,300 people were arrested at demonstrations against a "partial mobilisation" of reservists for Mr Putin's military campaign in Ukraine.
Mr Navalny's death has robbed the disparate Russian opposition of its most prominent leader as Mr Putin prepares for the March presidential election — a rubber-stamp vote set to keep the former KGB spy in power until at least 2030.
ABC/Reuters