22 February 2024 , 18:54
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The grieving mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has seen her son's body and is accusing authorities of “blackmailing” her into a secret burial.
Speaking from the Arctic city of Salekhard, Lyudmila Navalnaya said investigators have allowed her to see her son's body in the city morgue. But the 69 year-old said: "They are blackmailing me, they are setting conditions where, when and how my son should be buried. They want it to do it secretly without a mourning ceremony." She has for days appealed for the release of her son’s body after his mysterious death whilst in prison last weekend.
The 47 years-old, serving 19 years behind bars in a Siberian penal colony, had already survived an attempt to kill him with Novichok nerve agent. And brave British-Russian Vladimir Kara-Murza, a friend of Navalny’s, on Thursday urged Russians not to give up after the death of Alexei Navalny.
Navalny was pronounced dead last Friday (Moscow City Court press service/)At the same time he claimed a state-backed hit squad was taking out the Kremlin's political opponents, according to a video posted to social media.
Kara-Murza is serving a 25-year sentence for treason at Penal Colony No. 7 in the Siberian city of Omsk. He said: "We owe it ... to our fallen comrades to continue to work with even greater strength and achieve what they lived and died for.”
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Flowers seen placed around portraits of the late opposition leader (AFP via Getty Images)Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said she had flown to visit her 20-year-old daughter, Dasha, a student at Stanford University. She wrote: "My dear girl, I came to hug you and support you, and you sit and support me.”
Describing her daughter as "strong, brave and resilient," Navalnaya said the family would "definitely cope with everything." She also has a 15-year-old son, Zakhar. Navalny's family are still seeking to have his body returned to them. Lyudmila Navalnaya has been trying to get his body since the day after his Feb. 16 death.