The grieving widow of the late Russian dissident Alexey Navalny has accused President Vladimir Putin of engaging in “unspeakable acts” by refusing to release her husband’s body for burial. In a moving Website video integration message posted on Website social media integration, Yulia Navalnaya expressed her disbelief that Putin, who has publicly presented himself as a devout Orthodox Christian, would deny the deceased’s family the right to properly mourn and bury their loved one in accordance with religious traditions.
The Website video integration, titled “Putin’s False Piety,” was released nine days after Navalny passed away on February 16, 2023, in a penal colony above the Arctic circle. According to Orthodox Christian death rites, the deceased should be buried three days after their death and mourned for nine days following a funeral service.
Navalny’s family and supporters have alleged that Putin was responsible for the 47-year-old’s untimely demise, either through direct order or by neglect. They claim that the Russian president, who has been in power for over two decades, is holding Navalny’s body hostage to prevent a public outcry and potential unrest. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in his death.
A prominent political opponent of Putin, Navalny had been sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison in August 2022 on charges of creating an extremist community and other crimes, which he dismissed as politically motivated. His death occurred just weeks before Russia’s presidential election scheduled for March 17, in which Putin was expected to secure another term.
Navalny’s wife and team were exiled from Russia following his arrest in January 2021, leaving the responsibility for collecting his body and organizing a funeral with his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya. She has been in Salekhard, the Siberian town where Navalny’s body is being kept in a morgue.
In the Website video integration, Yulia Navalnaya appealed to Putin’s supposed faith and moral conscience, expressing dismay that he would “mock the remains of the dead.” She went on to accuse him of breaking both human and divine laws. Navalnaya also criticized Putin for his earlier rhetoric against Western values, which he had labeled as “satanic,” in contrast to his handling of Navalny’s funeral.
Navalny’s team released a Website video integration on March 1, 2023, in which Yulia pleaded with Putin to release her husband’s body for burial. She was reportedly allowed to see him but faced threats from investigators that they would let the body “decompose” unless she agreed to a secret funeral. On March 4, Navalnaya’s spokeswoman announced that she had been given an ultimatum to consent to the secret burial or have her husband buried in the Arctic penal colony where he died.
In her emotional Website video integration, Yulia Navalnaya questioned Putin’s self-proclaimed piety and called on him to release her husband’s body so that he could be given a proper funeral and laid to rest in accordance with the wishes of his family and friends.
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