Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in 2024, says on the social media platform X that her husband was poisoned. Photo: AFP/Lehtikuva

Navalny died in a Russian penal colony on 16 February 2024 at the age of 47. Russian officials stated he died from a combination of health problems. Supporters rejected that account from the outset, describing his death as a political assassination.
In a statement on the social media platform X, Navalnaya said the tests were carried out on biological samples taken from Navalny’s body and analysed in two separate laboratories based in different countries.

“We deserve to know the truth,” she wrote.

She later expanded on the findings in a video posted to YouTube, saying the tests confirmed that Navalny was poisoned, though she did not identify the laboratories involved or the substance allegedly used.

“Labs in two different countries independently concluded: Alexei was killed; namely, poisoned,” she said.

Navalnaya said samples had been smuggled abroad shortly after Navalny’s death and securely delivered to the testing facilities. She did not disclose how the samples were obtained or who transported them.

“I demand that the laboratories that conducted the analyses publish their results,” she said.

In the video, she also displayed images of Navalny’s cell and recounted his last days. She described a situation in which prison authorities delayed medical treatment after he reported feeling unwell.

Navalnaya said her husband’s last letter was written the day before his death. She did not disclose its contents but said it confirmed he had been in distress and without proper care.

“I assert that Vladimir Putin is responsible for the murder of my husband,” she said, calling on Western governments to stop cooperating with the Russian president.

“Stop appeasing Putin for some higher ‘considerations’. You cannot placate him. While you stay silent, he doesn’t stop,” she said.

Navalny, known for exposing corruption within Russia’s elite, had survived a previous poisoning attempt in 2020. That incident involved the nerve agent Novichok, according to several Western laboratories. He had returned to Russia in 2021 and was immediately arrested.

Navalny’s health had been a point of concern throughout his imprisonment, with repeated reports from his legal team about inadequate medical treatment and harsh conditions.

Russian authorities have denied involvement in both poisonings and have not commented on Navalnaya’s latest claims.