Russian investigators have yet to determine the official cause of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death, his spokeswoman has said, after prison authorities said he suddenly dropped dead following a walk in the “Polar Wolf” penal colony.
The death of Navalny, a former lawyer, robs the disparate Russian opposition of its most charismatic and courageous leader as President Vladimir Putin prepares for an election that will keep him in power until at least 2030.
The West and Navalny’s supporters have dismissed the Russian prison service’s statement on Friday that the 47-year-old had lost consciousness and died. Western leaders have cast Mr Putin as a killer and said he is responsible for Navalny’s death.
Mr Putin has made no public comment but Russian officials scolded Western leaders for rushing to conclusions about the death, which has further deepened a schism in relations between Moscow and the West caused by the Ukraine war.
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, was told on Saturday at the prison colony that he had perished from “sudden death syndrome”, a vague term for different heart conditions that end in death, according to Navalny’s team.
Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said his 69-year-old mother and lawyers were informed that the official verification of the cause of death had been extended and that it was unclear how long it would take.
“The cause of death is ‘undetermined’,” said Ms Yarmysh, who accused the Russian authorities were lying and stalling.
His mother and lawyers were not allowed into the morgue today in the Arctic town near the prison colony where the authorities said he dropped dead, Ms Yarmysh said.
“Asked if Alexei’s body was there, the staff did not answer,” said Ms Yarmysh.
Navalny had been incarcerated at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle located in Kharp in the Yamalо-Nenets region about 1,900km northeast of Moscow.
Just the day before his death, Navalny was shown joking in court via a video link to court. He teased the judge, suggesting he use some of his vast salary to top up Navalny’s own account.
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Navalny’s death came just as Russian forces made their biggest advance in the Ukraine war since May 2023 and as the West debates how much more support to give to Kyiv after a counteroffensive last year failed to pierce Russian lines.
US President Joe Biden on Friday blamed Mr Putin for Navalny’s death and warned there could be consequences.
However, it is unclear what more the West can do after imposing on Russia what it says are already the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a major economy over the Ukraine war. Russia’s economy grew 3.6% in 2023.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the reaction of Western leaders to Navalny’s death was “absolutely rabid”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the reaction of the West and its media demonstrated “their hypocrisy, cynicism and unscrupulousness”.
“In any situation, the script is always: ‘blame Russia’,” Ms Zakharova said.
