Alexei Navalny has had his sarcastic calls for to Russian jail directors of a pet kangaroo, a balalaika, and a bottle of moonshine liquor denied.

The listing of outlandish requests included a megaphone for a prisoner in a close-by cell "so he can yell even louder", a therapeutic massage chair and an award of the very best rank in karate for an inmate who "killed a man with his bare hands".

Navalny, a critic of Vladimir Putin, launched his exchanges with the jail administration on Twitter, and defined the way it gave him some "entertainment".

Mr Navalny wrote: "When you are sitting in a punishment isolation cell and have little entertainment, you can have fun with correspondence with the administration."

He is at the moment in a maximum-security penal colony at Melekhovo, about 115 miles east of Moscow.

The 46-year-old expressed mock outrage at not being allowed to maintain a kangaroo in his cell.

His Twitter put up learn: "Here is the most important and egregious thing. I just can't let this pass... I will continue to fight for my inalienable right to have a kangaroo."

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In March final yr, the outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine struggle was sentenced to nine years in prison after he was discovered responsible of large-scale fraud and contempt of court docket.

Mr Navalny reportedly misplaced 8kg in simply over two weeks while in jail and was apparently scuffling with a thriller ailment on account of claims of being poisoned.

He beforehand suffered a novichok nerve-agent poisoning earlier than his jail sentence, which he blamed on the Kremlin.

He additionally mentioned that he's being investigated on terrorism costs that could see him sentenced to 30 years in prison, which his aides have branded as "absurd allegations".

Mr Navalny will flip 47 on 4 June and to mark his birthday, his workforce has known as for rallies throughout Russia and elsewhere.