Kremlin critic Navalny says he is back in solitary confinement

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Tuesday he had been placed in solitary confinement for 14 days for refusing to wash a fence.

In a message posted on Twitter via his lawyer, Navalny said he had been sent back to a cramped isolation cell where he has served repeated spells for minor infringements of prison rules.

"I just did 12 days there, and now I'm doing 14 again," he said. "I understand painting a fence and feeling like Tom Sawyer is fun. But washing a fence, in my opinion, is totally insane."

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critic inside Russia, is serving 11-1/2 years after being found guilty of parole violations and fraud and contempt of court charges. He says all charges against him were fabricated as a pretext to smother dissent and thwart his political ambitions.

Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.