Alexey Navalny’s widow says lab tests prove Russian opposition figure was poisoned in prison

By Anna Chernova, Sebastian Shukla and Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — Laboratory tests of smuggled samples taken from late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny show that he was poisoned when he was imprisoned in a Siberian penal colony, his widow Yulia Navalnaya has said.

Tests were carried out independently by two separate overseas laboratories, with both reaching the same conclusion, according to Navalnaya.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during a press conference Wednesday morning that he was “unaware” of the claims.

Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died aged 47 in a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle in February 2024. According to the Russian prison service, he became unwell while on a walk at his prison and fell unconscious.

Navalny’s widow has long held Putin responsible for his death. Moscow has denied any involvement.

His death sparked protests worldwide, with many gathering outside Russian embassies in European capital cities, including Berlin and Paris, waving banners reading “Putin is a killer” and “Putin to the Hague.”

“A year and a half ago I promised we would do everything to investigate Alexey’s murder,” Navalnaya said in a video uploaded to X on Wednesday.

“We are keeping that promise.”

She said that Navalny’s alleged killers “worked carefully” to erase traces, but some biological samples of the jailed opposition figure’s remains were obtained and sent abroad.

“Labs in at least two countries examined these samples independently of each other. And these laboratories, in two different countries, reached the same conclusion: Alexey was killed – more specifically, he was poisoned.”

She did not specify which poison the laboratories had found and gave few other details. However, she called on the facilities to release their results.

“Alexey was my husband. He was my friend. He was a symbol of hope for our country. Putin killed that hope,” she said.

She also shared images that she claimed shows Navalny’s cell, with one image showing what she says is his vomit.

Asked by CNN, Navalny’s team said they were yet to receive the full reports from the labs involved and said that part of the reason to go public with the allegation was to pressure the facilities to release their findings. They gave few other details and would not confirm which countries were involved in the tests.

In 2021, Navalny returned to Russia from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On arrival, he was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated.

Navalny had been incarcerated ever since, with longstanding concerns for his welfare growing more intense after he was transferred to the penal colony known as the “Polar Wolf.” He spent his final weeks in the Siberian prison, where he said he slept under a newspaper for warmth.

His family was denied access to his body for days after his death, fueling suspicions of foul play among followers.

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