The distraught mother of Alexei Navalny, Lyudmila Ivanovna Navalnaya, recalled finding her son “healthy and cheerful” only a few days prior to his death.
The mother of the 47-year-old activist, long considered the main political opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, wrote on Facebook on February 16, as reported by Novaya Gazeta: “I saw my son in prison on February 12, when we went to visit him. He was alive, healthy and cheerful.”
Mr Navalny’s mother added she does “not want to hear any condolences”. She isn’t the only one to have suggested Mr Navalny had appeared in good health just days before his death.
On February 15, the day before he reportedly collapsed and died, Russian independent news outlet SOTA published a video of a court session showing Mr Navalny seemingly in good spirits, as he joked he was running out of spending money in prison.
Mr Navalny was held in a high-security penal colony in Yamal, near the Arctic Circle. He had been relocated there only a few weeks ago.
The death of the activist, which comes a month before the presidential election to be held in Russia and largely expected to be won by Putin, was made known in a statement by the Yamal directorate of the federal penitentiary service.
The statement read: “On February 16, 2024, in Penal Colony No. 3, the convict Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness, according to representatives of the department.
“Medical personnel from the institution arrived promptly, and an ambulance crew was called. All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but unfortunately, they did not yield positive results.
“The emergency medical team pronounced the convict dead. The cause of death is being investigated.”
Despite being behind bars since 2021 for charges he described as politically motivated, Mr Navalny was still considered to be able to rally Russians to participate in organised protests against the Kremlin.
Following the statement regarding the death of Mr Navalny, who in August 2020 had gone into a coma after suffering a Novichok attack, his wife Yulia said she wasn’t sure whether to believe the news coming from Russia.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, the activist’s wife added that if the news was true, both Putin and his staff “should know they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with our family and with my husband. They will be brought to justice. This day will come soon.”
Speaking only hours after the statement about Mr Navalny had been released, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t mince his words and openly said he held Putin responsible for his death. He said: “It is obvious to me: He was killed — like other thousands who were tortured to death because of this one man.”
Throughout the afternoon, other world leaders have paid tribute to Mr Navalny – including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called him the “fiercest advocate for Russian democracy”.
Members of the public around the world have also stepped out to pay tribute to the activist, leaving floral tributes and candles often outside Russian embassies.
The Kremlin has dismissed the blame placed on Putin over Mr Navalny’s death. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: “The immediate reaction of NATO leaders to Navalny’s death in the form of direct accusations against Russia is self-exposing. There is still no forensic examination, yet Western conclusions are already prepared.”
