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The widow of the deceased Russian opposition leader the activist has announced that his death resulted due to toxic exposure while serving a sentence in a remote prison in last year.

In a video published online, his widow explained that analysis of smuggled biological samples performed by research facilities in multiple nations demonstrated her husband had been “murdered”.

Navalnaya declined to disclose specifics regarding the substance reportedly administered, the samples or the analysis – but urged the two laboratories to publish their findings.

The critic – an anti-corruption campaigner and a leading dissident voice – died suddenly in prison on the 16th of February at the 47.

Previous Poisoning

Back in 2020, he survived an assassination attempt with a chemical weapon and came close to death. After returning to Russia, authorities detained him at the airport.

When of his passing, he had been in incarceration for an extended period on trumped-up charges and had recently been transferred to a correctional facility in the Arctic Circle.

Navalny’s supporters and associates at his organization have always maintained the Kremlin authorities played a role in his fate.

Secret Samples

His widow explained that posthumously, his supporters were able to “obtain and securely transfer” biological samples to foreign nations and that a pair of labs in different countries had concluded he had been poisoned.

Navalnaya withheld the identities of the laboratories – but she hinted that they were not disclosing the data due to geopolitical reasons.

“They are reluctant uncomfortable facts to emerge at the unsuitable period,” Navalnaya stated.

She further indicated that she would encounter resistance in seeking answers about her husband’s demise: Being the widow, of course, but there is no official investigation, there are no juridical basis to release materials to you.’”

“However, my justification. Not legal, but moral grounds.”

Navalnaya continued that her husband served as her partner, friend and closest person – and “a symbol of hope for a brighter tomorrow for this land”.

“I am aware he was a figure to you too,” Navalnaya remarked alongside footage of his public burial which brought multitudes despite threats from the authorities not to attend.

“I refuse to stay quiet. I declare that Vladimir Putin is responsible of killing my husband, Alexei Navalny... I urge the laboratories which conducted studies to make the results public.”

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated he was not informed of the widow’s claims.

Final Days

In the video published on that day, Navalnaya also recounted the closing moments of her husband according to what she said was testimony by personnel at the penal colony, which is yet to be corroborated.

Per her account, on the final day, the activist was taken out for a walk but experienced discomfort. Upon return to his confinement area “he lay down on the surface, pulled his knees up, and started groaning... then he started being sick”.

“Alexei was having convulsions... the jailers viewed his distress through the bars of the cell window,” Navalnaya recounted, citing the alleged testimonies.

An ambulance was not summoned until 40 minutes after he fell sick, his wife said, and he succumbed soon thereafter. Prison authorities later told his mother that her son had experienced an unexplained fatal episode. Subsequently, government inquiries said the death had been caused by a medical condition and heart rhythm disruption.

His colleagues have published never-before-seen images on social media purporting to show his confinement space on the final day and the cramped recreational area where he was allowed out.

Broader Implications

The Russian president, who consistently refused mentioning Navalny while he was alive, made a passing comment to him a month after by saying that a death was “always a sad event”.

The Russian president also said he had consented to a proposed exchange deal between Navalny and individuals held in Western jails, on condition that Navalny did not come back to his homeland.

“But such is life. There is little to be done about it,” Putin said.

Virtually no possibility Moscow will provide additional statements on this matter.

Widespread support and online presence long concerned the government, while high-ranking officials were annoyed by his investigations into high-profile government corruption.

After his demise the country lost the remaining towering political challenger who opposed Putin’s rule.

Many of his associates have been detained or have fled Russia. His widow is subject to detention, and she and her two children live abroad.

Government suppression on public dissent intensified further after the military offensive of the sovereign state in early 2022, and punitive new laws causing large-scale imprisonments have muzzled any opposition.

Throughout his existence and beyond he managed to draw out significant numbers onto the public squares. Thousands of mourners turned out for the burial service in the capital in last year despite real apprehensions of a law enforcement response.

Virtually no public protests have occurred in the nation afterward.