Novichok killed my husband, says Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia as she vows to 'build a free Russia'
The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Monday claimed he was killed by the nerve agent Novichok.
In a video message, Yulia Navalnaya accused President Vladimir Putin of killing her husband as she vowed to continue his work and fight for a free Russia.
Ms Navalnaya accused the Russian authorities of hiding Mr Navalny's body and of waiting for traces of Novichok to disappear from his body.
"I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia," Ms Navalnaya said in the video message entitled: "I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny."
US President Joe Biden has blamed Putin and his “thugs” for the dissident’s death, saying that he was “outraged” but “not surprised”. He joined European leaders in saying that the Kremlin should be held accountable.
But Donald Trump, Mr Biden’s likely Republican election opponent, did not name Putin as he launched a diatribe about the death on his Truth Social platform that dwelt more on his own legal battles.
“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction,” Mr Trump said.
Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty said it was right to describe the Russian opposition leader's death as “murder” amid calls from MPs to bolster the UK's sanctions regime in response to the incident.
The Kremlin has denied involvement in Mr Navalny’s death.
His mother was on Monday barred from a morgue near the Arctic prison where the anti-corruption campaigner and prominent Putin foe died suddenly.
Mr Navalny’s passing at the age of 47 remains shrouded in mystery after Russian authorities claimed that he had collapsed and died at the desolate penal colony dubbed “Polar Wolf”, a day after he appeared in good spirits at a court appearance last week.
“The cause of death is ‘undetermined’,” his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said, accusing the authorities of lying. She said that his 69-year-old mother Lyudmila Navalnaya and his lawyers were not allowed into the morgue in the nearby Arctic town of Kharp.
“Asked if Alexei’s body was there, the staff did not answer,” Ms Yarmysh added. “One of the lawyers was literally pushed out.”
Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Mr Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said Mr Navalny's body would not be given to his mother for 14 days while a chemical examination of it takes place, according to a Russian investigator.
Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said the Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, informed Lyudmila Navalnaya that the official probe into the death had been extended. "They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it," Ms Yarmysh posted on X, formerly Twitter.
After Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron vowed to look at tightening Ukraine war sanctions on the Putin regime in light of the “appalling” death, Labour on Monday demanded the Government clean up “dirty” Russian money it said was flowing through the City.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy told the Standard: “It is a stain on our great nation that under successive Tory governments, Britain became the money-laundering capital of the world. Alexei Navalny was not only focussed on corruption in Moscow, but in London too. Our tributes to Navalny must be more than just words.”
Mr Lammy said Lord Cameron should start by confronting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a G20 meeting which both are due to attend in Brazil on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, the former PM joined other G7 ministers at the Munich Security Conference in calling on Russia to “fully clarify” how Mr Navalny died.
The European Union has been divided about how to deal with Russia with the pro-Kremlin premier of Hungary, Viktor Orban, blocking previous rounds of sanctions and further backing for Ukraine.
Mrs Navalnaya on Monday attended a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers. Foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying the Brussels gathering would highlight “support to freedom fighters in Russia and honour the memory of Alexei Navalny”.
Scores of protesters have been jailed meanwhile after paying tribute to the opposition leader at memorials across Russia, with ordinary people braving heavy police deployments to leave flowers and candles.
Staunch Putin critic Bill Browder said the best riposte from the West would be freeing up more military aid to Ukraine. “That means, in the United States, the US Congress is holding up $63 billion of military support for Ukraine and I’m hoping that those congressmen who are holding it up now feel embarrassed supporting Putin,” he told GB News.