Mystery surrounds Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death as family seeks clarity on body's whereabouts

Days after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died mysteriously at a remote Arctic prison, the whereabouts of his body remain uncertain with his family getting contradicting information from authorities. Navalny's mother, Lyudmila, was told the body would be released after post-mortem examination by authorities.

However, Lyudmila and a lawyer accompanying her have been receiving conflicting information over the exact location of Navalny's body. This has further compounded mystery surrounding the death of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic, who apparently passed away from “sudden death syndrome” after a walk last Friday at the notorious “Polar Wolf” IK-3 penal colony. His mother was initially informed that Navalny's body had been transported to Salekhard, the town near the prison complex.

However, upon her arrival at the morgue on Saturday, she found it closed. Navalny's allies alleged that the Russian authorities are deliberately withholding his body to erase evidence and demanded that it must be returned immediately. "They’re driving us around in circles and covering their tracks," Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, told media.


Meanwhile, according to independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, Navalny's body is currently in the morgue of Salekhard District Clinical Hospital and had not undergone autopsy as of Saturday. An unnamed source, who was identified as an experienced paramedic, told the newspaper that Navalny’s head and chest were bruised when his body arrived at the hospital.

He added that the bruises did not appear to have been caused by beatings, but Navalny must have still been alive for them to appear. He theorized that the injuries might have appeared when authorities tried to hold Navalny down during an episode of convulsions.

"They said he had a bruise on his chest — the kind that comes from indirect cardiac massage ... So they did try to resuscitate him, and he probably died of cardiac arrest,” the paramedic said.

Meanwhile, the death of 47-year-old Kremlin critic, which came just a month before Putin is set to secure another six-year term, triggered an outpouring of grief and anger among his supporters at home and abroad. Putin has not commented on the death of his most vocal critic and the Kremlin has not said anything since Friday evening when it criticised Western leaders for saying they held Putin responsible.

Russian courts have sentenced dozens of people detained at events commemorating Navalny to short prison sentences, official court announcements showed.

(With inputs from Agencies)