The widow of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny today blamed Vladimir Putin for her husband's death in prison and accused the Kremlin of hiding his body to eliminate traces of poison.
In a video message, 47-year-old Yulia Navalnya said: “Vladimir Putin killed my husband.”
Holding back tears, she promised to continue her husband's work and fight for a free Russia with the help of its citizens.
“I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” she said in the video message titled “I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny.”
Navalnaya accused Russian authorities of hiding Navalny's body and waiting for traces of the nerve agent Novichok to disappear from his body.
In a video message, 47-year-old Yulia Navalnya (pictured) said: “Vladimir Putin killed my husband.”
Navalny's death was announced on Friday afternoon
Alexei and Yulia met on vacation in Turkey
Vladimir Putin is accused of orchestrating Alexei Navalny
“By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me – half of my heart and half of my soul,” Navalnaya said.
“But I still have the other half, and it shows me that I have no right to give up.” “I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny and continue to fight for our country.”
“I urge you to stand next to me,” she said. “I ask you to share the anger with me. Anger, anger, hatred towards those who dared to kill our future.”
“I address you with the words of Alexei, of which I firmly believe: “It's not a shame to do a little.” It's a shame to do nothing. It’s a shame to allow yourself to be intimidated.”
“Russia – the free, peaceful, happy, beautiful Russia of the future that my husband dreamed of… I want to live in this Russia.” I want my and Alexei's children to live in this Russia.
“I want to build with you what Alexei Navalny has set out.” Only in this way – and there is no other way – will the senseless death he suffered not be in vain.
“Fight and don't give up. I'm not afraid – and you won't be afraid of anything.”
Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and his lawyer Alexei Tsvetkov leave an office of the regional branch of the Investigative Committee in the city of Salekhard
Just two minutes after Navalny's alleged death – 2:17 p.m. – Russia's prison authorities issued a statement announcing his death
Navalny's allies say they know why their husband was killed and will soon reveal details, including the names of those involved in his killing. The Kremlin denied involvement in his death.
Navalny's mother Lyudmila has been unable to recover his body since his death on Friday.
A close legal adviser to the dissident, Kira Yarmysh, said Lyudmila, who was seen today at a regional office of the Russian Investigative Committee, had been told by authorities that his body would only be handed over after a full autopsy.
The prison service was accused of delaying the return of his body.
She was reportedly told that an initial autopsy was inconclusive and that a second one would need to be performed.
Furthermore, Lyudmila was initially told that his body had been taken to the city of Salekhard, near the penal colony where he was being held, but when she arrived the mortuary was closed.
Last night, CCTV footage was leaked that was believed to show a midnight convoy of prison vehicles and two patrol cars removing Navalny's body from Polar Wolf Prison.
Since reports of his death became public, his family and allies have accused the Kremlin of deliberately hiding his body
This handout photo posted by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on his Instagram account shows him and his wife Julia posing for a photo at a hospital in Berlin, Germany
Security footage of the midnight motorcade clearly shows that the Soviet-designed Federal Penitentiary Service van believed to be transporting Navalny is flanked by an unmarked car and several police vehicles.
The journey from the Polar Wolf Prison in Kharp first went to Labytnangi and then crossed the frozen Ob, the world's seventh-longest river, to Salekhard, according to independent news agency Mediazona, which obtained the footage of the macabre journey.
According to another news agency, Novaya Gazeta Europe, the journey across the thick ice may have ended in a hospital morgue, where paramedics found Navalny's body covered in bruises.
The Russian prison service announced Navalny's death on Friday.
It was most recently reported that Navalny died of “sudden death syndrome,” but no details were provided to support that claim.
Just two minutes after Navalny's alleged death – 2:17 p.m. – Russia's prison authorities issued a statement announcing his death.
Four minutes later, a Kremlin-controlled Telegram channel claimed that he had died of a blood clot, and just seven minutes later, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, spoke to the media about it.
Since reports of his death became public, his family and allies have accused the Kremlin of deliberately hiding his body.
Independent news agency Novaya Gazeta Europe reported yesterday that Navalny's body showed signs of bruising caused by being restrained during a seizure.
It was most recently reported that Navalny died of “sudden death syndrome,” but no details were provided to support that claim
Police officers detain a woman during a rally in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny near the Wall of Mourning monument to victims of political repression in Moscow
Women with red carnations come to lay flowers at the Wall of Mourning monument for the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
The news agency spoke to a paramedic from the Salekhard emergency medical service near the IK-3 penal colony, also known as the “Arctic Wolf,” in the town of Charp in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region, about 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow. Navalny was being held.
According to the independent news agency, medics found bruises on Navalny's body, which currently lies under police guard in a morgue at the Salekhard District Clinical Hospital.
“Normally, the bodies of people who die in prison are taken directly to the Forensic Medicine Office on Glazkova Street, but in this case, for some reason, they were taken to the clinical hospital,” the anonymous paramedic told the outlet.
“As an experienced paramedic, I can say that the injuries described by those who saw her appear to be from convulsions.”
“When a person has convulsions and others try to hold him down, but the convulsions are very severe, then bruising occurs.” They also said he had a bruise on his chest – the kind caused by indirect cardiac massage arises.
“So they tried to resuscitate him and he probably died of cardiac arrest,” the paramedic said, adding, “But no one says anything about why he had cardiac arrest.”
Yesterday, the British and American ambassadors to Russia laid flowers at a monument to Navalny erected in Moscow, while hundreds of Russian citizens were arrested for paying tribute to the dead dissident.
US Ambassador Lynne Tracy and Britain's Nigel Casey both paid homage to Navalny at the Solovetsky Stone Monument in Moscow, erected to honor victims of political repression.
The stone consists of a large boulder from the Solovetsky Islands, where the first camp of the Gulag political prison system was established, and is located near the historic Federal Security Service building in Moscow.
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