World

Alexei Navalny: Mother of Putin critic searching for his body after morgue ‘closed’

9 months ago
Alexei Navalny: Mother of Putin critic searching for his body after morgue 'closed'

The death of Alexei Navalny has been confirmed by his spokesperson, but it remains unclear where the body of the Vladimir Putin critic is.

Spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said in a post on X the most prominent face of the Russian opposition to Mr Putin was “murdered” at a remote Arctic penal colony.

She said Mr Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, was informed by authorities that her son had died on 16 February at 2.17pm, local time.

Russia-Ukraine latest: Follow live updates

Prominent Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov added that prison officials told Mr Navalny’s mother that he had died due to “sudden death syndrome”.

But the body of the 47-year-old has not yet been located or released by authorities.

Image:
Alexei Navalny’s mother has not been able to see her son’s body. Pic: Reuters

Mr Navalny’s mother was told by a prison official that her son’s body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death, Ms Yarmysh said.

But when they arrived at the morgue, it was closed, and workers said the body was not there.

X

This content is provided by X, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable X cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.


Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to X cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow X cookies for this session only.

Enable Cookies
Allow Cookies Once

Hours later, Ms Yarmysh said lawyers for the politician were told Mr Navalny’s body would not be handed over to his relatives until an investigation into his death had been completed.

She accused the Investigation Committee in Salekhard of “driving us around in circles and covering their tracks” as only hours before they were told the investigation had already been concluded, and nothing criminal had been established.

A woman lays flowers paying the last respect to Alexei Navalny at the at the monument to the victims of soviet occupation in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Image:
Pic: AP

Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported on Friday that Mr Navalny felt sick after a walk and became unconscious at the penal colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region, which is within the Arctic Circle.

More than 340 detained in Russia

Meanwhile, more than 340 people have been detained in Russia since the moment Mr Navalny’s death became public, according to independent human rights organisation, OVD-Info.

This included 230 people across multiple cities who were detained on Saturday.

Police detain a man as he wanted to lay flowers paying their last respect to Alexei Navalny at the monument, a large boulder from the Solovetsky islands, where the first camp of the Gulag political prison system was established, in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo
Image:
Pic: AP

Police officers detain a man during a gathering in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny near the Wall of Grief monument to the victims of political repressions in Moscow, Russia February 17, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Image:
Pic: Reuters

OVD-Info said others had been detained the day before when they came to lay flowers in memory of Mr Navalny.

Read more:
Police in Russia crack down on protests
Russia ‘outmatched’ by Ukraine’s allies
Ukraine’s army chief says forces have pulled out of frontline city

Among the held included a priest who went to a memorial in St Petersburg to conduct a service in the politician’s memory.

From Georgia to Germany, people mourn for Navalny

In Russia, authorities moved swiftly to crush any possible resistance in Alexei Navalny’s name; detaining supporters at memorials and trying to sweep away the flowers they left.

But beyond their borders, they couldn’t stop the crowds.

From Georgia to Germany, thousands gathered for Mr Navalny.

In the shadow of the Russian embassy in Berlin, a steady stream of people arrived to lay flowers below a picture of the 47-year-old activist.

I watched a group of three Russian friends huddled to light their candle in the wind.

They told me they had come to pay their respects, acutely aware it was an act being punished back home.

“A lot of my friends want to take flowers for Navalny in Moscow but they can’t do that. I want to do this for my friends and for me,” Polina said.

Among the grieving was Elena who stood quietly as tears rolled down her face.

“He was the last hope of freedom, of peace in Russia. I guess there is no hope anymore,” she explained.

Like Elena, many today said they are not just mourning a man but what he represented to Russia: hope of resistance and change.

In Moscow, social media footage showed a large group of people chanting “shame” as police dragged a screaming woman from the crowd.

Photos of Alexei Navalny is seen among flowers and candles at the monument to the victims of soviet occupation in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024. Poster with the words reading "Putin is a killer", left,. Russian authorities say that Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison. He was 47. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Image:
Tributes to Navalny. Pic: AP

Putin ‘should be held accountable’

Hours after Mr Navalny’s death was reported, his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, made a dramatic appearance at a security conference in Germany where many world leaders had gathered.

She said that she was unsure if she could believe the news from official Russian sources, “but if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around Putin, Putin’s friends, his government to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Starmer: ‘Navalny was incredibly courageous’

Reacting, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he was “moved” by Mrs Navalnaya’s words, adding that Russia has to be held to account.

It came after the UK’s Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “We should hold Putin accountable for this. And no one should be in any doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin’s regime in Russia after what has just happened.”

Foreign ministers of the G7 – made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US – have called on Russia to fully clarify the circumstances of Mr Navalny’s death.