Navalny's Widow Says Lab Tests Show Her Husband Was Poisoned In Prison

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, said laboratory tests done outside of Russia show her husband was poisoned in the Arctic prison where he died in mysterious circumstances in February 2024.

In a video statement posted on social media on September 17, Navalnaya said that supporters of her late husband obtained and smuggled biological samples from him out of Russia.

Laboratories in two countries analyzed the samples independently and "reached the same conclusion: Aleksei was killed; more specifically, he was poisoned," she said.

Navalnaya did not identify the laboratories and gave no details about their findings, which she urged them to release publicly.

Her statement echoes earlier findings published last year by the Russia-focused media outlet The Insider, which reported that documents indicated Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner who had worked to expose the alleged ill-gotten gains of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, had been poisoned.

Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence in a prison known as Polar Wolf on charges widely considered to be politically motivated, was transferred there under what Navalnaya described as a deliberate plan, though she gave no direct evidence to support that assertion.

She alleged, however, that Arkady Gostev, head of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), inspected the remote facility in April 2023 and again in December, shortly before Navalny’s transfer.

"Why was this remote, closed, and harsh [prison] colony so attractive? Perhaps because nothing and no one there could prevent them from finishing the job. And they did finish it," Navalnaya said in a Russian version of her statement, which was published on YouTube.

She said that testimony from five prison staff members suggests Navalny’s health rapidly declined in his final weeks.

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On February 3, he complained of leg pain and was briefly checked into the prison's medical office, where only his blood pressure and temperature were measured. He asked to see a neurologist but no specialist was available. Navalny later wrote in a letter that the prison medical office appeared "staged" and lacked real doctors.

On February 14, Navalny was moved from cell 19 to cell 16, a solitary confinement punishment cell.

Two days later, he again reported leg pain. During an outdoor walk, he told guards he felt unwell.

Witness testimony cited by Navalnaya describes him as crouching and saying he was ill. He was eventually returned to his cell without medical care. He reportedly experienced chest and stomach pain, convulsions, and vomiting before being left alone in agony.

Navalnaya said that her husband was eventually carried to the medical office but had already lost consciousness. A prison ambulance was not called until 1:25 p.m. local time, over 40 minutes after his first complaints. Despite attempts at resuscitation, Navalny was declared dead.

The official statement from the FSIN branch in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District said that Navalny "felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately lost consciousness, and could not be revived despite resuscitation attempts."

His body was withheld from his mother for a week, raising suspicions among his followers of foul play.

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"I state that Vladimir Putin is guilty of murdering my husband, Aleksei Navalny," Navalnaya declared. She did not provide evidence.

"I accuse the Russian security services of developing prohibited chemical and biological weapons. I demand that the laboratories which conducted the studies publish their results. Stop playing games with Putin out of some higher considerations."

Media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and AP have reported that US intelligence agencies have determined that Putin likely did not order Navalny killed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 17 that he was unaware of Navalnaya's new claim.

Navalnaya did not name the labs that carried out the tests or the countries in which they are located. She appeared to suggest that the results might be withheld for "political reasons," but did not clarify who might be blocking their release.

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Navalny's death has been widely condemned internationally, with Western governments holding the Kremlin responsible for his imprisonment and mistreatment.

Russia's most prominent opposition leader for years, Navalny barely survived a 2020 poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent in Siberia, which he blamed on Putin and the Federal Security Service.

When he returned to Russia in January 2021 following treatment in Germany, he was arrested upon arrival and remained behind bars until his death.