Navalny's widow claims he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok
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Vladimir Putin has promoted a prison officer accused of torturing Alexei Navalny during his final sentence, it has been revealed.
First deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Boyarinev was appointed to the military rank of colonel general of the Internal Service on Monday, just three days after Mr Navalny died in a penal colony in the Arctic Circle.
In June 2023, it was revealed at a court hearing that Boyarinyev had ordered the IK-6 penal colony where Mr Navalny is being held to limit the amount with which the opposition figure could buy food in custody.
Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Mr. Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, posted an image detailing the order this morning. On X he wrote: “Personal reward for torture and murder of Putin.”
Alexei Navalny's mother was told she would have to wait 14 days for her son's body to be handed over because authorities would conduct a “chemical test,” his spokesman and allies said.
The move will raise suspicions that Vladimir Putin's leading critic was poisoned, something his wife Yulia Navalnaya claimed on Monday.
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The imprisoned Russian opposition figure says he learned of Navalny's death yesterday
A jailed Russian opposition politician has expressed his anger over the death of Alexei Navalny after learning about it just yesterday.
Ilya Yashin was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in December 2022 for spreading false information intended to discredit the Russian army. The basis for this was a law that was introduced after the Russian invasion began.
His arrest followed statements he made on his YouTube channel about war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in the Kiev suburb of Bucha.
Mr. Yashin wrote on It is difficult to express my shock. It's hard to organize your thoughts. The pain and horror are unbearable.
“Alexei Navalny was my friend. This also applies to Boris Nemtsov. We stood for a common cause and dedicated our lives to making Russia peaceful, free and happy. Now my two friends are dead. I feel a black emptiness inside me. And of course I am aware of my own risks. I'm behind bars, my life is in Putin's hands and it's in danger. But I will continue to stay true to my line.
“As I stood over Boris's body in February 2015, I vowed not to be afraid, not to give up and not to run away. Nine years later, in mourning for Alexei, I can only repeat that oath.”
Russian opposition activist and former Krasnoselsky District municipal deputy Ilya Yashin gestures and smiles as he stands in a defendant's booth in a courtroom before a hearing on December 9, 2022 in Moscow, Russia
(AP)
Tom Watling20. February 2024 09:00
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Putin gives the torturer Navalny a military rank a few days after his death
Vladimir Putin has awarded the military rank of colonel general to a prison minister responsible for depriving Alexei Navalny of food during his most recent incarceration.
First deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Boyarinev was awarded the rank on Monday, just three days after Mr Navalny's murder.
Ivan Zhdanov, director of Mr. Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, posted an image of the order issued by Boyarinov in March 2023 to the Vladimir region's IK-6 limiting the amount with which the Russian opposition figure could purchase food while in custody .
Vladimir Ozechkin, who founded the No to Gulag project, claimed Boyarinov oversaw the torture of Ukrainian prisoners and Navalny in the Russian prison system.
The first deputy head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Boyarinev was appointed colonel general on Monday, just three days after Mr Navalny's murder.
(Telegram)
Tom Watling20. February 2024 08:47
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Alexei Navalny – the man who knew too much
For more than a decade, he and his team have used a mix of persistence and derision to investigate the mafia financial ties between the top echelons of Russian politics, security and business, he writes John Kampfner.
Frozen out of the state-controlled mainstream media, Navalny used every digital platform and social media channel available to shine a light on Putin's corrupt regime. He survived multiple poisonings and imprisonments until he was finally – and inevitably – silenced by his greatest enemy.
Alexei Navalny – the man who knew too much
For more than a decade, he and his team have investigated, with a mixture of persistence and derision, the mafia financial connections between the top echelons of Russian politics, security and business, writes John Kampfner. Frozen out of the state-controlled mainstream media, Navalny used every digital platform and social media channel available to shine a light on Putin's corrupt regime. He survived multiple poisonings and imprisonments until finally – and inevitably – silenced by his greatest enemy…
Namita Singh20. February 2024 08:30
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“There will be consequences,” says Cameron
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said he expected the UK and G7 allies to impose new sanctions on the Russians involved in the death of Alexei Navalny.
During his visit to the Falkland Islands, Lord Cameron told reporters: “I think the first thing is to remember what a great man Alexei Navalny was and what an appalling regime Putin runs in Russia.”
“And yes, there will be consequences. What we do in situations like this is we look at how a person's human rights were violated and the individual people who caused it, and we are able to pursue those people with specific measures.
“Now we never announce sanctions in advance, I can’t do that.
“But what I can tell you is that at the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Munich I pushed for the UK to do this and I urged other countries to do the same. And I firmly believe that both will happen.”
Namita Singh20. February 2024 08:15
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In the video: Foreign Minister emphasizes that Navalny's death was a “murder”.
Foreign Minister emphasizes that Navalny's death was a “murder”.
Alicia Kearns urged MPs in the House of Commons on Monday, February 19, to call the death of Alexei Navalny a murder. “Alexei Navalny was murdered and it is important that we in this House call it what it was, because that is what he deserves,” said the chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. “After his murder, I was also in Munich, where I heard his wife Julia (Navalnaya) asking us to help her. That's what we have to do now.” Leo Docherty, Britain's Europe minister, agreed with the description, saying: “She's right when she uses the word murder. We are trying to hold the state and the Russian leadership accountable.”
Namita Singh20. February 2024 08:00
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In pictures: Hundreds mourn Alexei Navalny with vigils, flowers and protests
Torchlight procession in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Rome
(EPA)
People pay their respects as they take part in a torchlight procession in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
(EPA)
People take part in a vigil following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Paris
(Portal)
People take part in a protest and vigil following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Kappara
(Portal)
A protester holding a photo of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally commemorating his death in front of the Russian embassy in Athens, Greece, on February 19, 2024
(EPA)
Namita Singh20. February 2024 07:45
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France summons the Russian ambassador to Paris after Navalny's death, reports Le Monde
Following the death of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, France will summon the Russian ambassador to Paris, Le Monde newspaper reported, citing comments by French Foreign Minister Stéphane Sejourne during a trip to Argentina.
“I asked to summon the Russian ambassador today at 6:30 p.m.,” Mr. Sejourne said, according to Le Monde.
On Monday, Germany also summoned the Russian ambassador in Berlin because of Navalny's death.
(EPA)
Namita Singh20. February 2024 07:30
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“To cover up traces of their crime”
Alexei Navalny's ally Ivan Zhdanov called Russian authorities “lackeys and liars” and criticized them for the delay in handing over the Putin critic's body.
“It is clear what they are doing now – covering the tracks of their crime,” he wrote on Monday.
Since Navalny's death, nearly 400 people have been arrested by police in Russia as they flocked to ad hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repression with flowers and candles to pay tribute to Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a group that tracks political Observations make arrests.
The US and British ambassadors also mourned Navalny's death at a memorial service in Moscow.
Namita Singh20. February 2024 07:20
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Foreign Minister emphasizes that Navalny's death was a “murder”.
Foreign Minister emphasizes that Navalny's death was a “murder”.
Andy Gregory20. February 2024 07:01
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EU foreign policy chief calls for independent investigation into Navalny's death
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was considering sanctions against Russia and also called for an independent international investigation into the causes of Alexei Navalny's death.
He said responsibility for Navalny's death lies with “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin himself, but we can resort to the institutional structure of the penal system in Russia” to impose asset freezes and travel bans
Namita Singh20. February 2024 06:59