Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition chief Aleksei Navalny, stated laboratory assessments accomplished exterior of Russia present her husband was poisoned within the Arctic jail the place he died in mysterious circumstances in February 2024.
In a video assertion posted on social media on September 17, Navalnaya stated that supporters of her late husband obtained and smuggled organic samples from him out of Russia.
Laboratories in two international locations analyzed the samples independently and “reached the identical conclusion: Aleksei was killed; extra particularly, he was poisoned,” she stated.
Navalnaya didn’t determine the laboratories and gave no particulars about their findings, which she urged them to launch publicly.
Her assertion echoes earlier findings printed final 12 months by the Russia-focused media outlet The Insider, which reported that paperwork indicated Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who had labored to reveal the alleged ill-gotten good points of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his internal circle, had been poisoned.
Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence in a jail often called Polar Wolf on fees broadly thought-about to be politically motivated, was transferred there underneath what Navalnaya described as a deliberate plan, although she gave no direct proof to assist that assertion.
She alleged, nevertheless, that Arkady Gostev, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), inspected the distant facility in April 2023 and once more in December, shortly earlier than Navalny’s switch.
“Why was this distant, closed, and harsh [prison] colony so enticing? Perhaps as a result of nothing and nobody there might stop them from ending the job. And they did end it,” Navalnaya stated in a Russian model of her assertion, which was printed on YouTube.
She stated that testimony from 5 jail employees members suggests Navalny’s well being quickly declined in his closing weeks.
On February 3, he complained of leg ache and was briefly checked into the jail’s medical workplace, the place solely his blood strain and temperature had been measured. He requested to see a neurologist however no specialist was accessible. Navalny later wrote in a letter that the jail medical workplace appeared “staged” and lacked actual medical doctors.
On February 14, Navalny was moved from cell 19 to cell 16, a solitary confinement punishment cell.
Two days later, he once more reported leg ache. During an outside stroll, he instructed guards he felt unwell.
Witness testimony cited by Navalnaya describes him as crouching and saying he was sick. He was finally returned to his cell with out medical care. He reportedly skilled chest and abdomen ache, convulsions, and vomiting earlier than being left alone in agony.
Navalnaya stated that her husband was finally carried to the medical workplace however had already misplaced consciousness. A jail ambulance was not referred to as till 1:25 p.m. native time, over 40 minutes after his first complaints. Despite makes an attempt at resuscitation, Navalny was declared useless.
The official assertion from the FSIN department within the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District stated that Navalny “felt unwell after a stroll, virtually instantly misplaced consciousness, and couldn’t be revived regardless of resuscitation makes an attempt.”
His physique was withheld from his mom for every week, elevating suspicions amongst his followers of foul play.
“I state that Vladimir Putin is responsible of murdering my husband, Aleksei Navalny,” Navalnaya declared. She didn’t present proof.
“I accuse the Russian safety providers of growing prohibited chemical and organic weapons. I demand that the laboratories which performed the research publish their outcomes. Stop enjoying video games with Putin out of some larger concerns.”
Media retailers together with The Wall Street Journal and AP have reported that US intelligence businesses have decided that Putin possible didn’t order Navalny killed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on September 17 that he was unaware of Navalnaya’s new declare.
Navalnaya didn’t title the labs that carried out the assessments or the international locations wherein they’re situated. She appeared to recommend that the outcomes could be withheld for “political causes,” however didn’t make clear who could be blocking their launch.
Navalny’s demise has been broadly condemned internationally, with Western governments holding the Kremlin chargeable for his imprisonment and mistreatment.
Russia’s most distinguished opposition chief for years, Navalny barely survived a 2020 poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent in Siberia, which he blamed on Putin and the Federal Security Service.
When he returned to Russia in January 2021 following remedy in Germany, he was arrested upon arrival and remained behind bars till his demise.
