The decision depends only on Putin, Navalnaya said: “Alexei's body must be recovered immediately so that he can be buried in a humane way.” So far he has not received the body nor has he been told where the body has been kept. Attempts to locate the body were repeatedly rebuffed by the prison mortuary and local authorities.
According to Navalny's team, investigators said Monday that the body will be kept under lock and key for another 14 days for “chemical analysis.” It is a “total lie and farce”. Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Jarmish, said: “Navalny's body has been buried to cover the traces of the murder.
The Kremlin rejected an international investigation
On Tuesday, the Kremlin rejected an international inquiry requested by the European Union into the death of a jailed opposition politician. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We do not accept such demands. It is interference in internal affairs.
Peskov dismissed Yulia Navalnaya's accusations as “baseless and outrageous”. However, like Putin, she did not see his message and chose to refrain from commenting because she is “currently a widow.” In a video message on Monday, Navalnaya, 47, directly blamed Putin for her husband's death. He announced that he would continue the struggle against Putin's regime.
Julia Navalnaya's X account has been temporarily blocked
With the message, “People don't think about saying goodbye to him.”
Soon after the news broke, Navalnaya's X account, which was launched only on Monday, was temporarily suspended. The message appeared: “Account blocked. “X bans accounts that violate our rules.” About an hour later the profile was available again. The site's security mechanism against manipulation and spam incorrectly flagged the account as violating the rules. Once the error is detected, the account is re-enabled.
In a video message on Tuesday, Navalnaya appealed to the European Union not to recognize the Russian presidential election: “A president who murders his main political rival, by definition, cannot be legitimate.”
Promotion “Rewarding Putin for Torture”
The Russian regime has cracked down on Navalny's supporters in recent days — even as people publicly express their grief. Hundreds of people were arrested out of public sympathy and arrested or fined in summary proceedings. A new criminal case has been opened against Navalny's brother Oleg, the TASS news agency reported, but he has not been charged.
Peskov defended the mass arrests in memory of Navalny's death on Tuesday, saying: “Law enforcement officers are acting according to the law.” He supported Putin's decision to award medals to several reform officials on Monday. This is a completely normal phenomenon and has nothing to do with Navalny's death.
Navalny's confidants see it differently. For example, the deputy head of the FSIN prison authority, Valery Boyerinyev, was promoted to the rank of colonel general of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Ivan Zhdanov, director of the anti-corruption fund (FPK) founded by Navalny, said he was personally responsible for the torture of Navalny in prison: “You have to understand this as Putin's apparent reward for torture.”
Navalny's Assassination “Ordered” by Putin
Imprisoned Russian opposition figure Ilya Yashin also blames Putin for Navalny's death. He “ordered” the killing and he did it “probably” in view of the upcoming presidential election in March so that “no one would suspect Putin's involvement,” Yashin wrote in a letter distributed on Tuesday.
Interview with Kremlin critic Kara-Murza
Yevgenia Kara-Murza is the wife of imprisoned Kremlin dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has already survived two poisonings. In the ZIB2 interview he talks about him and the death of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
In Putin's understanding, power is expressed through “murder, cruelty and revenge,” said Boris Nemtsov, an opposition activist and former employee of the opposition politician who was murdered in 2015. This is not the thinking of a politician, but the thinking of a “mob leader”. Navalny will go down in history as a “man of extraordinary courage.”
The US has announced new sanctions
Meanwhile, the US wants to impose more economic sanctions on Russia. The U.S. government will announce a “comprehensive package of sanctions” on Friday, John Kirby, director of communications for the U.S. National Security Council, announced Tuesday. The move was a reaction to both Navalny's death and Russia's two-year war of aggression in Ukraine.
The European Union also slammed Russia on Tuesday. Russia's representative to the EU has been summoned and called for an independent international investigation into the death of Kremlin dissident Alexei Navalny, according to the EU diplomatic service. “The European Union expressed its outrage over the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, for which President (Vladimir, note) Putin and the Russian authorities will ultimately be held responsible,” it said.
