‘Alexei Navalny was murdered,’ claims Russian opposition leader’s spokeswoman while confirming his death

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh confirmed the reports of Navalny's death while calling it a murder.

Citing an official notice given to the Russian opposition leader's mother, Yarmysh said that the death occurred on February 16 at 2:17 pmlocal time.

"Alexey Navalny was murdered. His death occurred on February 16 at 2:17 p.m. local time, according to the official message to Alexey’s mother," Yarmysh said in a poston social media platform X.

"An employee of the colony said that the body of Navalny is now in Salekhard. It was picked up by investigators from the IC. Now they are conducting "investigations" with him," she added.

She further demanded that Navalny's body be sent to his family "immediately".

"We demand that Alexey Navalny's body be handed over to his family immediately," she wrote.

After the reports of Navalny's death surfaced on Russian state media, his wife on Friday (Feb 16) said that President Vladimir Putin should know that he would be punished for all that he had done with the country, her family and her husband.

"I'd like Putin and all his staff... to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family and with my husband," Navalnaya said.

"We should fight this horrific regime in Russia today. Vladimir Putin should be personally held for all the atrocities they have committed in our country in the last years," she added.

‘He was healthy and happy,’ says Navalny’s mother

Navalny's mother, Liumila Navalnaya, on Friday, said that she did not want to hear any condolences and that her son was "alive, healthy and happy" the last time she saw him, which was on Feb 12.

"I saw my son on the 12th at the (prison) colony, we had a meeting. He was alive, healthy and cheerful," she wrote on Facebook, as per Novaya Gazeta newspaper.

(With inputs from agencies)