Whereabouts of Navalny’s body still not known
Russian authorities have yet to offer a cause for Alexei Navalny’s death, and his family can’t identify where his body is, according to the opposition leader’s spokeswoman.
Navalny, 47, the most prominent opponent of President Vladimir Putin, died in a remote Arctic prison colony, IK-3, near Salekhard, Russia.
The activist’s death was confirmed in an “official message” to his mother as having occurred at 2:17 p.m. Friday, spokeswomen Kira Yarmysh said in post on X, formerly Twitter.
Navalny’s death prompted questions about what killed him.
Prison officials told his mother when she arrived at the penal colony Saturday that her son had perished from “sudden death syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on X.
Although she was told Navalny’s body has been moved to the morgue in Salekhard, a remote city near the prison facility, his body isn’t there, Yarmysh said.
Salekhard’s Investigative Committee said Navalny’s body won’t be released to his family until an investigation is complete, Yarmysh said.
Navalny’s death Friday was announced on the eve of official campaigning for the March 17 presidential election in which Putin is seeking a fifth term. Many Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed Putin.
Meanwhile, arrests continued as Russians came to lay flowers in memory of Navalny at memorials to the victims of Soviet-era purges. OVD-Info, a group that monitors political repression in Russia, said more than 273 people had been detained at memorial events since Navalny’s death.