Putin honours Federal Penitentiary Service leader amid outcry over Navalny's death

Details regarding the honours granted to Valery Bojarinew were uncovered in a decree on the Russian government's official websites. Bojarinew has been in service with the FSIN since July 2022, managing the Main Operational Directorate (GOU) and the Main Directorate for Supporting Operational Units Activity (GUODOP).

As stipulated in the decree signed by Putin, the decision was reached soon after the death of Alexei Navalny, a renowned Russian opposition figure who passed away in a penal colony.

Activists from the human rights organisation gulagu.net argue that Bojarinew "carried out Putin's wishes" to eliminate Alexei Navalny.

Russian media communicated the news of Alexei Navalny's death on February 16. A statement from the prison service noted that Navalny fell sick and lost consciousness following a walk.

Alexei Navalny's family continue to be denied access to his body. His spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, revealed that neither the mother of the deceased opposition figure nor his legal representatives were permitted entry into the morgue.

On Monday, Yarmysh announced that Alexei Navalny's body will not be handed over for another 14 days.

Alexei Navalny's colleagues accuse the Kremlin of "covering up the evidence" because several days after the demise of the incarcerated opposition leader, the location of his body remains undisclosed, and the cause of his death is still unidentified, as reported by "The Guardian" on Monday. Independent Russian "Novaya Gazeta Europa", however, discovered that Alexei Navalny's body is in the morgue of the District Clinical Hospital in Salekhard. Sources indicate that a post-mortem had not been conducted by Saturday.

Source: Wprost/The Guardian/Novaya Gazeta Europa