Julia Navalnaya demands return of husband's body amid allegations of Kremlin's cover-up

Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov addressed Julia Navalnaya's statement and the case of Alexei Navalny's death in one of his speeches. The Russian oppositionist passed away on February 16 in prison. According to the vast majority of experts, it was a politically motivated murder.

After three years of torment and torture in a penal colony, Alexei passed away. His treatment was different from that of other prisoners. He was subjected to torture and kept in a concrete box, according to his wife. She also highlighted that the Kremlin wants to conceal traces of the murder, hence their reluctance to return Navalny's body.

Dmitry Peskov rejected claims that Alexei Navalny's body is being retained to hide evidence of poisoning as baseless and without supporting evidence. He further mentioned that the police act per the law by arresting those who lay flowers in Navalny's memory. He also stated that the calls to internationalize the investigation, particularly by Joseph Borell, the high Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy representative, are without merit.

Alexei Navalny passed away on Friday, February 16, in a penal colony located within the Arctic Circle in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. According to prison guards, the 47-year-old oppositionist "felt unwell" and "lost consciousness." Despite summoning an ambulance and attempted resuscitation, Navalny died.

Navalny was arrested in January 2021 and imprisoned after he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been recuperating from a suspected poisoning orchestrated by Russian special services. The authorities initiated additional criminal cases against him, leading to verdicts that cumulatively resulted in over 30 years in prison.