MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the death of blogger Alexey Navalny is sad, as is the death of every other human being, but inmates sometimes die in prisons everywhere.
"As far as Mr. Navalny is concerned: well, he passed away, and this always is a sad occurrence. But there were other cases of people dying in penitentiary facilities, too," Putin said.
When a US journalist attempted to link Navalny’s death to the level of democracy in Russia, Putin replied: "People are dying in US prisons too, aren’t they?".