Navalny’s widow says two labs concluded poisoning; calls for transparency
Yulia Navalnaya says independent laboratories in two countries found Alexei Navalny was poisoned; Kremlin denies involvement
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, said two independent laboratories have concluded that Navalny was poisoned before his death in a Russian prison last year.
She said biological samples from Navalny’s body were taken out of Russia for testing in two countries, and both laboratories arrived at the same finding: he was poisoned.
Navalnaya said the laboratories have not publicly released their findings due to what she described as political considerations, and she demanded that the laboratories publish their results. "Stop appeasing Putin for some higher ‘considerations.’ You cannot placate him. While you stay silent, he does not stop," she said.
The Kremlin has denied involvement by President Vladimir Putin or any part of his administration. Russian investigators have said Navalny died after a combination of about a dozen diseases, and health officials cited arrhythmia as a contributing factor, though Navalny’s widow disputes that diagnosis, noting that he did not show signs of heart disease while alive.
Navalny, 47, was Russia’s most vocal anti-corruption figure and had run against Putin in 2018. He was imprisoned on charges described by supporters as politically motivated extremism. In 2020, he survived a poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent and later received treatment in Germany.
Navalny died in February 2024 in a northern Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence. His death drew international attention and renewed scrutiny of Russia’s treatment of political prisoners and the transparency of its investigations.
Analysts and longtime supporters have urged public release of the labs’ full findings to allow independent verification. While the widow’s assertions raise new questions, officials have emphasized the need for official documentation before drawing firm conclusions about responsibility or a motive. The case remains a focal point in discussions about political dissent and human rights in Russia.
