“Alexei Navalny has been murdered,” Putin's spokesman said after the critic's mother was formally notified.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been confirmed dead by his team, with his spokesperson saying the Kremlin critic was “murdered.”
Mr Navalny died at 2:17pm (9:17 GMT) on February 16, according to a notification given to his mother, Kira Yarmysh said on Saturday, in the first confirmation from an ally. I wrote this.
Yarmysh said that an employee of the Arctic penal colony Polar Wolf, where the 47-year-old man was serving a 19-year sentence, said his body had been recovered by investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee and is now in Salekhard. He said he said it was in town.
“We demand that the body of Alexei Navalny be handed over immediately to his family,” she said.
Alexei Navalny was killed. According to an official message to Alexei's mother, his death occurred at 2:17 pm local time on February 16.
A colonial official said Mr Navalny's body was now in Salekhard. It was picked up by IC investigators. Now they…
— Кира Ярмыл (@Kira_Yarmysh) February 17, 2024
Yarmis said the town is near a prison facility where investigators were conducting an “investigation.”
Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported on Saturday that Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya visited the prison accompanied by her lawyer.
Russian authorities said on Friday that the rebel leader died after losing consciousness while walking inside the penal colony of Harup, about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
Russian police detained more than 170 people across the country at memorials and rallies held in Navalny's honor on Friday and Saturday, with 99 detained in St. Petersburg alone, according to protest monitoring group OVD-Info. did.
Protests are banned in Russia under strict anti-dissident laws, and pro-Navalny rallies have been particularly hard hit by authorities in the past.
World leaders have condemned the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic.
US President Joe Biden said “President Putin is responsible for Mr. Navalny's death,'' and European Council President Charles Michel said the European Union held “the Russian regime solely responsible for this tragic death.'' said.
