Team Accuses Russia Of Hiding Opposition Leader’s Body

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s mother has been unable to recover his body after his death in an Arctic jail, a close aide to Navalny said yesterday.

Kira Yarmysch said his mother, Lyudmila, was told his body would only be handed over once a post-mortem examination had been completed.

Mr Navalny’s team believes the anti-corruption campaigner was murdered on the orders of President Vladimir Putin.

A rights group said 300 Russians had been arrested for laying tributes.

Western governments say the blame lies with Russian authorities for the 47-year-old’s sudden death, while foreign ministers from the G7 group of rich countries called on Russia to “urgently clarify” the circumstances surrounding it.

Mr Putin has not publicly commented since the Russian prison service announced on Friday that Mr Navalny had been taken ill and died at the remote IK-3 prison in the Arctic Circle.

In the immediate aftermath, the Kremlin said it was aware and the president had been informed.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it rejected “biased and unrealistic” assessments over his cause of death made during a meeting with British officials yesterday.