Navalny's mother says authorities demand secret funeral, blackmailing her

She said this in a video posted on YouTube.

The woman said that she had been secretly taken to the morgue and shown her son's body. She spent all day yesterday in the Investigation Department of the Salekhard Investigative Department of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Investigators said that the cause of death was known, all medical and legal documents were ready, and Navalny's mother was allowed to see them, and sign one of them.

"According to the law, they had to give me Alexei's body right away, but they haven't done it yet. Instead, they are blackmailing me and setting conditions on where, when and how Alexei should be buried. This is illegal... They want to do it secretly, without saying goodbye. They want to bring me to the outskirts of the cemetery, to a fresh grave, and say: 'This is where your son lies.’ I do not agree to this," said Lyudmila Navalnaya.

The woman is threatened: if she does not agree to a secret funeral, they will do something with her son's body.

Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said that according to the documents, the cause of death of the politician was natural.

Navalny's death in Russian prison: what is known

On Friday, February 16, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation announced the death of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

On the same day, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of European cities to express their outrage over Navalny's death, blaming it on Putin. In Russia, they were not allowed to lay flowers in memory of the oppositionist.

Navalny's relatives were refused to show or give his body to him. Before that, the Russian exile newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Europe reported that Alexei Navalny's body was allegedly covered with bruises. This could be either due to beatings or convulsions caused by the poison effect.

Citing its own sources in Russia's Investigative Committee and Navalny's entourage, the Russian opposition outlet Sota reported that he died of gradual poisoning by small doses.

The head of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, said that the death of the Russian opposition leader should prompt German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, while Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for Russia to be declared a state sponsor of terrorism.

As of February 19, more than 400 activists were detained in 32 Russian cities after the death of Putin's opponent during flower-laying events.

The Lithuanian and German foreign ministers said that after Navalny's death, the EU should at least strengthen sanctions against Russia. EU Diplomacy Chief Josep Borrell said that EU members would propose a new package against the Kremlin.

On Monday and Tuesday, February 19-20, the foreign ministries of numerous European countries summoned Russian ambassadors to the carpet over Navalny's death.

On February 20, it became known that Putin had promoted Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service Boyarynev to colonel general after Navalny died in the colony.