Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny's team confirms his death and says his mother is searching for his body

Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson confirmed Saturday that the Russian opposition chief had died at a distant Arctic penal colony, saying he was “murdered,” however it was unclear the place his physique was as his household and associates looked for solutions.

Navalny’s demise at age 47 has disadvantaged the Russian opposition of its most well-known and provoking politician lower than a month earlier than an election that can give President Vladimir Putin one other six years in energy.

Though neither the imprisoned anti-corruption crusader nor different Kremlin critics had been able to problem Putin for the presidency, the lack of Navalny was a crushing blow to Russians who had pinned their future hopes on Putin’s seemingly indefatigable foe. It additionally prompted questions on what killed him. Russian officers instructed the politician’s staff Saturday that the reason for Navalny’s demise had not but been established and that the outcomes of a brand new investigation could be launched subsequent week, mentioned Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh. Navalny’s mom was instructed that the physique wouldn’t be launched till these investigations had been full, she mentioned. The choice has prompted hypothesis that the Russian authorities could also be eager to carry on to the physique in an try and cowl up potential foul play. “They’re driving us round in circles and masking their tracks,” Yarmysh mentioned.

A be aware handed to Navalny’s mom acknowledged that he died at 2:17 p.m. Friday, in keeping with Yarmysh. Jail officers instructed his mom when she arrived on the penal colony Saturday that her son had perished from “sudden demise syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Basis, wrote on X, previously referred to as Twitter.

A jail colony worker mentioned the physique was taken to the close by metropolis of Salekhard as a part of a autopsy investigation, Yarmysh mentioned. When Navalny’s mom and one of many late politician’s attorneys visited the morgue in Salekhard, it was closed, Navalny’s staff wrote on its Telegram channel. However the lawyer referred to as the morgue and was instructed the physique was not there, his staff mentioned.

One other of Navalny’s attorneys went to Salekhard’s Investigative Committee and was instructed that the reason for Navalny’s demise had not but been established and that new investigations had been being completed with the outcomes to be launched subsequent week, Yarmysh mentioned. Russia’s Investigative Committee knowledgeable Navalny’s staff that the physique wouldn’t be handed over to his kinfolk till these investigations had been full, she mentioned.

“It’s apparent that they’re mendacity and doing every thing they’ll to keep away from handing over the physique,” Yarmysh wrote on X, including that his staff demanded that Navalny’s physique “be handed over to his household instantly.”

Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported that Navalny felt sick after a stroll Friday and fell unconscious on the penal colony within the city of Kharp, within the Yamalo-Nenets area about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow. An ambulance arrived, however he couldn’t be revived, the service mentioned, including that the reason for demise remains to be “being established.”

Maria Pevchikh, head of the board of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Basis, mentioned the opposition chief would “reside on perpetually in thousands and thousands of hearts.”

“Navalny was murdered. We nonetheless don’t know the way we’ll carry on dwelling, however collectively, we’ll consider one thing,” she wrote on X.

In the meantime, arrests continued Saturday as Russians got here to put flowers in reminiscence of Navalny at memorials to the victims of Soviet-era purges. OVD-Data, a gaggle that displays political repression in Russia, mentioned Saturday that greater than 273 individuals had been detained at memorial occasions since Navalny’s demise.

Memorial gadgets laid Friday had been eliminated in a single day, however individuals continued trickling in with flowers on Saturday. In Moscow, a big group of individuals chanted “disgrace” as police dragged a screaming lady from the gang, video shared on social media confirmed.

Greater than 10 individuals had been detained at a memorial in St. Petersburg, together with a priest who got here to conduct a service for Navalny there.

In different cities throughout the nation, police cordoned off among the memorials and officers had been taking footage of those that got here and writing down their private information in a transparent intimidation try.

“After the homicide of Alexei Navalny, it’s absurd to understand Putin because the supposedly reliable head of the Russian state,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned on the Munich Safety Convention in Germany Saturday. “He’s a thug who maintains energy by corruption and violence.”

U.Ok. Overseas Secretary David Cameron mentioned Saturday that Britain “can be taking motion” towards the Russians accountable for Navalny’s demise.

Chatting with broadcasters in Munich, Cameron mentioned “there must be penalties” for “appalling human rights outrages like this.” He mentioned Britain would “have a look at whether or not there are particular person individuals which are accountable and whether or not there are particular person measures and actions we will take.” Cameron didn’t say whether or not the response would consist of economic sanctions or different measures.

U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned on Friday that Washington doesn’t know precisely what occurred, “however there isn’t any doubt that the demise of Navalny was a consequence of one thing Putin and his thugs did.”

The Kremlin bristled Friday on the outpouring of anger from world leaders, with Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, calling the statements — issued earlier than medics have launched the reason for Navalny’s demise — “unacceptable” and “outrageous.”

Navalny had been jailed since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. He was later convicted thrice, saying every case was politically motivated, and acquired a sentence of 19 years for extremism.

After the final verdict, Navalny mentioned he understood he was “serving a life sentence, which is measured by the size of my life or the size of lifetime of this regime.”

Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British ambassador to Belarus and senior fellow for Russia & Eurasia on the Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research in London, mentioned the lack of Navalny reveals that “the sentence in Russia now for opposition is just not merely imprisonment, however demise.”

Hours after Navalny’s demise was reported, his spouse, Yulia Navalnaya, made a dramatic look on the Munich convention.

She mentioned she was uncertain if she may consider the information from official Russian sources, “but when that is true, I would like Putin and everybody round Putin, Putin’s associates, his authorities to know that they are going to bear accountability for what they did to our nation, to my household and to my husband.”

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Related Press author Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.