THE Alexey Navaldi, Russia’s opposition leader released letters on Friday showing how he has been taunting prison authorities for months with a series of outlandish requests including a kimono, a balalaika, a beetle and even the right to keep in his cell… a kangaroo !

The requests were rejected by the “IK-6 penal colony” in Melekhovo, about 250 kilometers east of Moscow, according to Russian documents published online by Russia’s leading opposition figure, Reuters reported.

“When you’re in a prison cell and you don’t have much fun, you can always amuse yourself by corresponding with the prison administration,” Navalny pointedly commented. He is serving a combined 11-1/2 years in prison for fraud and contempt of court on charges he says were fabricated to silence him.

Navalny’s other strange requests include a bottle of whiskey, a stick, two bags of cheap tobacco, and a… black belt.