Navalny's team demands that his body be handed over to his family “immediately”

The body of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny must be handed over to his family “immediately”, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said this Saturday (17), adding that his mother was officially notified of his death.

“Alexey Navalny was murdered. His death occurred on February 16 at 2:17 pm local time, according to the official message to Alexey's mother,” Yarmysh said in a post on social media.

“An official from the colony said that Navalny's body is now in Salekhard. It was collected by IC researchers [Comissão de Investigação]. They are now conducting 'investigations' into him,” she said.

“We demand that Alexey Navalny’s body be immediately handed over to his family,” Yarmysh said.

The death of 47-year-old Navalny was announced on Friday by the Russian prison service, but Yarmysh's comments mark the first confirmation from his team.

Navalny has posed one of the most serious threats to Putin during his rule, which has lasted more than two decades.

He organized anti-government street protests and used his blog and social media to expose alleged corruption in the Kremlin and Russian businesses.

He was arrested after returning to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.

Upon arrival, Navalnvy was quickly arrested on charges he rejected as politically motivated.

Navalny has been incarcerated ever since, and long-standing concerns about his well-being have become more intense after he was transferred to a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle.

Western condemnation of the Kremlin was swift and fierce following news of his death on Friday. US President Joe Biden placed the blame for Navalny's death on Putin, while North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia had “serious questions” to answer.