MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whom many regarded as a top candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, has congratulated countryman Dmitry Muratov for winning it.

Muratov, editor of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, was named prize co-laureate last week along with investigative journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines.

“Russia and the Philippines are such different countries, but the leaderships are similar, especially in their endless lies and hatred of those who expose the lies,” Navalny said in a Monday post on Facebook. “With all my heart, I congratulate Dmitry Muratov and Novaya Gazeta on the Nobel Peace Prize.”

After the prize announcement, Muratov said if he had been on the prize committee he would have voted for Navalny. He also said that the peace prize was awarded to honor his newspaper, not him.

Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was imprisoned this year after returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been recuperating from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.