Where's Navalny's Body?

Russian authorities on Monday announced an “indefinite” investigation into the death of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an Arctic Circle prison and refused to allow his family access to his body for an independent investigation and funeral. 

Navalny’s mother was refused access to her son’s body at a morgue in northern Russia four days after his death was announced on Friday, raising further suspicions the country’s top political dissident had been murdered after surviving nearly three years in brutal prison conditions - and a 2020 poisoning attributed to Russian security services .

Kira Yarmysh, a spokesperson for Navalny’s family, said on X that Navalny’s mother had not been allowed to enter the morgue in Salekhard, near the prison where Navalny had been held since December. 

“Alexey’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning. They were not allowed to go in. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexey’s body was there, they did not answer,” she wrote. 

Russian media reports claimed that officials described Navalny’s body as “bruised,” but did not provide photos or other evidence. Russian authorities claim Navalny collapsed and died after a morning walk, citing cardiac arrest due to “sudden death syndrome”.

Russian courts had convicted Navalny, 47, on a slew of charges from corruption to fostering an extremist organization in a series of trials widely denounced by Navalny supporters and Western governments as politically motivated. His organization’s opposition to the three decade rule of Putin, and his investigations into state corruption, made him the most effective Russian dissident but also drew the vehement ire of the authorities.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, Alexey’s mother, and lawyers for the family traveled to the “Polar Wolf” IK-3 prison about 1,200 km northeast of Moscow over the weekend to collect his body. They remain in the area pending additional information, said Navalny’s legal team. 

At least 366 people have been arrested in Russia since Friday as thousands tried to pay their respects to the dead politician -described in Russian media as a “blogger” - despite aggressive crackdowns on demonstrations by security forces and freezing conditions.

Navalny rose to prominence over the last decade as the only sustained domestic critic of Putin’s ironfisted rule over Russia and its economy, which Navalny repeatedly accused Putin and his allies of looting for personal gain. 

Indicted on a series of vague charges after attempting to run for the mayor of Moscow in 2012, Navalny was frequently harassed and his brother imprisoned, until August 2020, when he collapsed during an internal Russian flight from poisoning by a notorious Russian made nerve agent. His recovery from the poisoning and the subsequent investigation into the incident - Navalny tricked a Russian security official into admitting it was an assassination attempt – was the subject of a 2022 Oscar winning documentary.

After receiving emergency treatment in Russia, Navalny was taken to Berlin for medical care, emerging from a two week medically induced coma to recover and eventually return to Russia in early 2021, where he was immediately arrested on arrival in Moscow. Throughout his imprisonment, Navalny lost weight and suffered from significant health problems and frequently complained prison officials denied him medical treatment. 

NATO officials were aghast at the news of his death, which was announced on the first day of the annual Munich security conference attended by western and NATO security officials.

“Putin clearly murdered him,” said a NATO security official, who echoed the widespread belief the Russian president was directly responsible. “He locked him in a hole, denied him medical treatment and transferred him to solitary confinement in the worst prison in Russia. That alone is enough but it won’t be clear how he died until someone can examine the body. Which is why they’ve yet to release it.”

Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said in an online video that she would continue her husband’s political activism and opposition to Putin’s rule. 

"We know why - concretely - Putin killed Alexey Navalny three days ago. We will tell you about it later,” she said.