© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia attend a hearing at the Lublinsky district court in Moscow, Russia, April 23, 2015. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva/File Photo
By Guy Faulconbridge and Filipp Lebedev
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian investigators have yet to determine the official cause of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death, his spokeswoman said on Monday, after prison authorities said he suddenly dropped dead following a walk in the “Polar Wolf” penal colony.
Navalny’s death robs Russia’s disparate 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 said Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death, a stance the Kremlin condemned on Monday as “obnoxious”.
Putin has made no public comment on Navalny’s death but it has further deepened a gaping schism in relations between Moscow and the West caused by the nearly two-year 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 Yarmysh, who accused the Russian authorities of lying and stalling.
His mother and lawyers were not allowed into the morgue on Monday in the Arctic town near the prison colony where the authorities said he dropped dead, Yarmysh said.
“Asked if Alexei’s body was there, the staff did not answer,” said 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 1,900 km (1200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
Just the day before his death, Navalny was shown joking in court via a video link to court. He teasingly suggested that the judge use some of his vast salary to top up Navalny’s own account.
‘OBNOXIOUS STATEMENTS’
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday blamed “Putin and his thugs” for Navalny’s death and warned there could be consequences.
Other Western leaders have also pointed the finger at the Russian president. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borell said on Monday the bloc would seek new sanctions against Russia.
Responding to the Western criticism, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We consider it absolutely unacceptable to make such, well, frankly obnoxious statements.
“These statements, of course, cannot cause any damage to our head of our state,” he told a regular news briefing on Monday.
Peskov said the investigation into Navalny’s death was ongoing and was being conducted in accordance with Russian law.
Asked by reporters how Putin reacted to news of the death, Peskov said: “I have nothing to add.”
The West has already imposed 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.
Navalny’s death came just as Russian forces made their biggest advance in Ukraine 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.
In Moscow, St Petersburg and dozens of other Russian cities, people have laid flowers at monuments to the victims of Soviet-era repression, though many of the flowers and candles were then removed by unidentified men, Reuters witnesses said.
Authorities have detained around 389 people in 39 Russian cities since Navalny’s death, rights group OVD-Info said.
“I love you,” Yulia, the widow of Alexei Navalny, said on Sunday in a post on Instagram beside a picture of them together, which showed their heads touching as they watched a performance.
Yulia Navalnaya, a graduate of the prestigious Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, always supported her husband in his battles with Russian authorities, attending his many court appearances, standing beside him at rallies and waiting for release from many prison terms.
The EU’s Borrell said Navalnaya would attend a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
