The mother of Alexei Navalny, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has stated that she was shown her son’s body by Russian authorities, who are now pressuring her for a “secret” burial. She revealed in a video message that she was taken to a morgue to sign a death certificate. The cause of death, according to a medical report presented to her, was natural causes. However, Navalny’s widow insists he was murdered by Russian authorities.
Lyudmila Navalnaya claimed that while the law mandates the return of her son’s body, the authorities are refusing to do so, effectively “blackmailing” her. She accused them of dictating the terms of her son’s burial, including its location, timing, and method. She stated, “They want to take me to the outskirts of the cemetery to a fresh grave and say: ‘Here lies your son.'”
After learning of her son’s death in a nearby penal colony six days ago, Ms. Navalnaya traveled to the northern Russian town of Salekhard. She had previously been denied access to her son’s body and had personally appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for permission to bury him.
In her video address, she claimed that she was being threatened by the authorities, who warned that if she did not agree to a secret funeral, they would do something with her son’s body. She was also told by investigators that time was against her as the body was decomposing.
The video was posted on her late son’s YouTube channel, and she ended her address by demanding the return of his body. No immediate response from Russian authorities was reported.
In related news, US President Joe Biden met with Mr. Navalny’s widow Yulia and his daughter Dasha Navalnaya in San Francisco on Thursday. The White House stated that President Biden expressed his admiration for Alexei Navalny’s courage and his legacy of fighting corruption and advocating for a free and democratic Russia. The US is reportedly preparing to issue new sanctions on Russia.
Navalny passed away in a prison colony on 16 February. While prison officials claimed he fell ill after a “walk”, Yulia Navalnaya insists he was assassinated on Putin’s orders and has pledged to continue his fight. The Kremlin has dismissed these allegations, labeling the Western response to Navalny’s death as “hysterical”.
Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya suggested that the authorities’ decision to show Mrs. Navalnaya her son’s body was an attempt to persuade her to “make a deal”. She wrote on her Telegram channel, “The body is given back, but under the condition that the funeral does not become a political event.”
Navalny, a former opposition leader, was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent by alleged Russian secret service assassins in August 2020. After recovering in Germany, he returned to Russia in January 2021 and was imprisoned. Russian authorities have responded harshly to attempts to commemorate his death, clearing makeshift monuments and arresting hundreds.
