Moscow, Russia

The Kremlin's jailed critic Alexei Navalny, who has earlier complained about being assaulted, deprived of proper medical care and poisoned, has now claimed that he is being subjected to a very different and rarely heard kind of torture. 

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The imprisoned Putin critic said that he is now forced to listen to a pro-Putin pop sing as part of the morning ritual at 5 am.  

47-year-old Navalny, who was formerly a lawyer, came to prominence nearly a decade ago by criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin and raising his voice against vast corruption. He has now been kept in a prison about 60 km (40 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.

Navalny's erratic morning regime of national anthem, pop songs

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The critic, who has been sentenced to prison, till he turns 74, said that his morning regime includes listening to the Russian national anthem as well as the patriotic song “I am Russian", which has been sung by a pro-Putin singer called “Shaman“.

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Shaman, whose actual name is Yaroslav Dronov, has created a wave of war-fuelled patriotism and turned into a staple on state TV. He is also among the celebrities who are officially supporting Putin ahead again for the presidency in March. 

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Taking to X, Navalny said, “The singer Shaman came to prominence when I was already in prison so I could neither see him nor listen to his music. But I knew he had become Putin’s main singer. And that his main song was ‘I am Russian’."

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“Of course, I was curious to hear it, but where could I listen to it in prison? And then they brought me to Yamal [the location of his Arctic prison]. And here, every day at 5 o’clock in the morning, we hear the command: ‘Get up!’ followed by the Russian national anthem and then immediately afterwards, the country’s second most important song is played – ‘I am Russian’ by Shaman," he added. 

Navalny said that the irony was it was highlighted by the state authorities that an ultra-nationalist pop song was played for educational purposes while he carried out morning prison exercises.

“To be honest, I’m still not sure that I correctly understand what post-irony and meta-irony are. But if that’s not it, what is it?” quipped Putin's critic.

(With inputs from agencies)