Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's widow has accused President Vladimir Putin's regime of poisoning her husband with the nerve agent Novichok and then preventing the family from seeing his body, in an attempt to allow any traces of the deadly chemical to dissipate from his system.
In a poignant nine-minute address shared on Navalny's official YouTube channel on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya directly held Putin directly responsible for the death of her "children's father." Navalnaya said that she knew the reasons behind his death on Friday while he was jailed at the Arctic penal colony. Holding back tears, she vowed to continue her husband's work and advocate for a free Russia.
Never Agent Killed Navalny?
"We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago," Navalnaya said. "We will tell you about it soon. We will definitely find out who exactly carried out this crime and how exactly. We will name the names and show the faces."
The brave woman also pledged to carry on with the work of her dead husband along with the help of Russian citizens.
"I will continue Alexei Navalny's work. I will continue to fight for our country. And I encourage you to stand by my side," she said.
"Do not just share the endless grief and pain that has enveloped us and will not let us go.
"I ask you to share this anger with me. Anger, rage, hatred for those who have dared to destroy our future."
Navalnaya alleged that Russian authorities hid Navalny's body and deliberately delayed access, possibly to allow traces of the Novichok nerve agent to vanish from his remains.
She said: "Putin took away the most precious I had in my life - my most dear and the most loved man.
"But Putin also took Navalny away from you, somewhere in a [penal] colony in the Far North, beyond the Arctic Circle, in eternal winter.
"Putin didn't just kill a man called Alexei Navalny. Together with him, Putin wanted to kill our hopes, our freedom, our future. To destroy and nullify it.
"The best evidence that Russia can be different, that we are strong, brave, that we believe and desperately fight and want to live differently. By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me - half of my heart and half of my soul," Navalnaya said.
Death Isn't the End
Navalny's allies claim to know the reasons behind his death and have said they would soon reveal the details, including the identities of those responsible for his murder. The Kremlin has consistently denied any involvement in his death.
Navalny's mother, Lyudmila, has been unable to recover his body since his death on Friday. A legal aide close to the dissident, Kira Yarmysh, mentioned that Lyudmila, who was seen at a regional office of Russia's Investigative Committee on Monday, was told by authorities that his body would only be released after a comprehensive post-mortem examination.
Allegations have been made against the prison service for prolonging the process of returning his body.
Lyudmila was reportedly told that an initial post-mortem was inconclusive, necessitating a second examination.
Details surrounding Navalny's death are few and inconsistent. The latest report suggests he died of 'sudden death syndrome,' but no supporting details were provided.
The timeline of announcements is also contradictory, with Russia's prison service announcing his death two minutes after the reported time of death.
Four minutes later, a Kremlin-controlled Telegram channel claimed he had died of a blood clot, while Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, addressed the media seven minutes after the announcement.
Additionally, there are allegations that Kremlin officials informed Navalny's mother that he died from 'sudden death syndrome' during her visit to the penal colony. Navalny's allies claim that they were denied the opportunity to see the body until the investigation is complete.
Navalny's lawyer, who arrived in the town of Salekhard with Navalny's mother on Saturday, claims to have been told by the prison that the body is being held in the morgue. However, a contact at the Salekhard morgue later denied that the body was there, adding more uncertainty to the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of one of Putin's most prominent critics.
"It's obvious that the killers want to cover their tracks and are therefore not handing over Alexei's body, hiding it even from his mother," his team said in a post on Telegram.
Recent reports suggest that a few days before Navalny's death, officers from the FSB (Federal Security Service) visited the prison where he was held.
According to the Russian human rights campaign group gulagu.net, two intelligence officers supposedly disconnected some CCTV and recording devices at Polar Wolf.
