Russia will not hand over opposition leader ALEXEI NAVALNY's body for 14 days until 'chemical examinations are complete'

Monday, February 19, 2024 – Russian investigators will not hand over the body of dead Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny for 14 days, his team have revealed.

This is coming after Alexi Navalny's window, Yulia Navalnaya accused the Russian authorities of hiding Navalny's body in order to wait for traces of the nerve agent to disappear.

Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said that Navalny's body would not be given to his mother for 14 days while a chemical examination takes place.

Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said the Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, informed Lyudmila Navalnaya that the official probe into the death had been extended.

'They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it,' Yarmysh posted on X.

She earlier met with EU chiefs in Brussels after releasing a video in which she blamed Vladimir Putin for her husband's death in prison and accused the Kremlin of hiding his body.

Yulia Navalnaya addressed foreign ministers from the EU's 27 nations in Brussels after vowing to carry on her husband's fight against the Russian president's vicelike grip on Russia.

Hours earlier, Navalnaya had posted a striking video message on X in which she called on her husband's supporters to keep fighting against the Kremlin's oppression to construct a 'peaceful, happy, beautiful Russia that Alexei envisioned'.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on X: 'We expressed the EU's deepest condolences to Yulia Navalnaya. Vladimir Putin and his regime will be held accountable for the death of Alexei Navalny.

'As Yulia said, Putin is not Russia. Russia is not Putin. We will continue our support to Russia's civil society and independent media.'

Navalny's allies say they know why her husband was killed and would soon reveal the details, including the names of the people involved in his murder. The Kremlin has denied involvement in his death.

Navalny's mother, Lyudmila, has been unable to recover his body since his death on Friday.

A close legal aide to the dissident, Kira Yarmysh, said Lyudmila, who was today seen at a regional office of Russia's Investigative Committee, was told by authorities that his body would only be handed over following a full post-mortem examination.

The prison service has been accused of delaying the return of his body.

She was reportedly told that an initial post-mortem was inconclusive, and that a second one needed to be undertaken.

And today, Russian investigators told his family they will not hand over Navalny's body to his relatives for 14 days 'until a chemical examination is completed,' said Ivan Zhdanov, head of the dead politician's anti-corruption campaign.

Russia's prison service announced Navalny's death on Friday.

It was most recently reported that Navalny died of 'sudden death syndrome', but no details were given to back this claim up.

Just two minutes after the time Navalny was reported to have died - 2.17pm - Russia's prison service put out a statement revealing his passing.

Four minutes after this, a Telegram channel controlled by the Kremlin claimed he had died of a blood clot, and just seven minutes later Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, was talking to the media about it.