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Pathology at the Salekhard regional hospital: Navalny's body is said to be located here

Photo: Peter Kovalev / ITAR-TASS / IMAGO

Alexei Navalny's death was officially confirmed to his mother on Saturday, but she was unable to see her dead son - there was no word on where the body was. Now the Kremlin-critical Novaya Gazeta Europa, citing its own informants, reports that the dead man is currently in the district hospital in the city of Salekhard in the far north of Siberia.

An autopsy had not yet taken place, at least as of Saturday, the newspaper reports. The dead man's body is also said to have bruises and a bruise on his chest.

Novaya Gazeta quotes an anonymous employee of the emergency service. According to him, the bruises indicate that Navalny had convulsions before his death and could have been held by prison camp employees. A bruise on the chest is also an indication that resuscitation attempts have actually been made. However, the newspaper report shows that the informant himself did not see Navalny after his death, but was only informed about his condition by colleagues.

There was initially no official confirmation of this information. Navalny's relatives have not yet been given access to the 47-year-old's body. Salekhard is the capital of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The “Polar Wolf” prison camp, where Navalny died, is about 50 kilometers northwest of it as the crow flies, already beyond the Arctic Circle.

According to official information, opposition politician Alexei Navalny died on Friday. He is said to have collapsed in freezing temperatures after a walk in the prison camp where he was serving a three-decade sentence. According to the prison service, attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. On Saturday, the authorities officially informed Navalny's mother of his death.

Repression against mourners

Human rights activists accuse the Russian power apparatus of murder. The prominent anti-corruption campaigner's employees also assume that Navalny was deliberately killed. In many places in Russia, people took to the streets to express their sadness. The state responded with repression: more than 300 people were arrested.

The death of the opposition politician, who returned to Russia in 2021 after a poison attack despite the threat of imprisonment, caused consternation in many countries. Many international politicians, including Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, also spoke of this being a political murder by Putin and the Russian justice system. Great Britain summoned the Russian ambassador.

It is unclear when and whether her son's body will be handed over to Navalny's mother.

mgo/dpa