The mother of Alexei Navalny, the Putin critic who died in a Russian prison, has called on President Vladimir Putin to release his body.
In a video filmed outside the colony where he died on Friday, she said she had been trying to see him for five days but didn’t even know where he was.
Navalny’s wife Yulia urged the authorities not to stop his loved ones from saying goodbye to him.
The family have been told his body will not be released for two weeks. His mother was informed it was being held for “chemical analysis”, a representative for Navalny said.
There has been no confirmation of the whereabouts of the body from Russian authorities, while efforts to locate it have been repeatedly shut down.
Yulia Navalnaya has alleged her husband’s body was being kept until traces of poisoning by the nerve agent Novichok had disappeared. Navalny survived an attempt to kill him using the poison in 2020.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the accusations “unfounded and vulgar”, but added that since Ms Navalnaya was widowed just days ago he wouldn’t comment further.
Navalny’s mother made a direct appeal to President Putin outside the Siberian penal colony known as Polar Wolf, where his death was announced on 16 February.
“I’ve not been able to see him for five days, they’re refusing to give his body to me, and they’re not even saying where he is,” she says.
“I’m asking you, Vladimir Putin – it all depends on you alone. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body is released immediately so I can give him a decent burial.”
Navalny’s death in prison was announced on Friday. The authorities at the Siberian penal colony where he was being held said he had never regained consciousness after he collapsed following a walk.
Officials later said that Navalny had suffered “sudden death syndrome”.
His mother and lawyer travelled to the remote colony as soon as news of his death broke.
Attempts to locate the body have repeatedly been shut down by the prison mortuary and local authorities.
On Monday, the Kremlin said an investigation into Navalny’s death was ongoing and that there were “no results” as yet.
