Alexei Navalny’s wife: ‘Vladimir Putin killed my husband’

Alexei Navalny’s wife has accused Russian authorities of hiding his remains from his family and lawyers.

In a video posted on her newly-created X account, Yulia Navalny vowed to name those involved in her husband’s death in the Siberian penal colony.

‘Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband Alexei Navalny,’ she said.

‘Putin killed the father of my children. Putin took away the most precious thing I had – the closest and most beloved person.

‘But Putin also took Navalny away from you… Putin didn’t just kill the man Alexei Navalny, he wanted to kill our hopes, our freedom, our future together with him.’

The economist, 47, said she knows ‘exactly why Putin killed Alexi’ and that his supporters will reveal why – and how – the Kremlin did so soon.

‘We will name names and show faces,’ Yulia said.

She accused prison authorities of ‘torturing’ the anti-corruption activist while he was locked up at the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets region.

‘He was bullied, cut off from the world, and not given a pen and paper to write a letter to me or our children. He was starved,’ she said.

‘And not only did he not give up, he supported us all the time: he encouraged us, laughed, joked, and encouraged us. 

‘Not for a split second did he doubt what he was fighting for and what he was suffering for. 

‘My husband could not be broken, and that’s exactly why Putin killed him. Shameful, cowardly, not daring to look him in the eyes or simply say his name.’

She accused Russia of delaying an autopsy to allow a Soviet-era nerve agent from the powerful Novichok family of toxins to ‘disappear’ from his body.

It’s a substance Navalny knows all too well. He was poisoned in 2020, becoming violently ill, falling into a coma and requiring treatment in Germany.

Navalny, the long-defiant opposition leader who braved years behind bars, a poison attack and a belligerent state press that made him public enemy number one, was found dead in one of Putin’s prisons on Friday.

He had died, according to officials from the penal colony 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, of ‘sudden death syndrome’.

Navalny was serving a pile of prison sentences for so-called ‘extremism’ and fraud.

Prison authorities say Navalny’s cause of death has yet to be determined – though campaigners say the autopsy result is one not to be trusted.

Only after the autopsy is conducted can Navalny’s relatives retrieve his body.

Yulia’s comments come after his spokesperson said his mother and lawyers were not allowed to see his body at a morgue this morning.

Kira Yarmysh said earlier today: ‘Alexei’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning. They were not allowed to go in.

‘One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexei’s body was there, they did not answer.’

For Yulia, continuing her husband’s work is something she can’t do alone.

‘I invite you to stand next to me,’ Yulia added.

‘It’s not a shame to do little, it’s a shame to do nothing. It’s a shame to let yourself be intimidated.’

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

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