Alexei Navalny's death: Everything we know Two weeks after mourners flood the funeral

Alexei Navalny died on February 16 inside Russia's polar wolf pen colony - his funeral is scheduled to take place today (Friday, March 1) All we know about his mysterious demise is...

Fans and family of Alexei Navalny are preparing for his funeral in Moscow today (Friday, March 1), two weeks after he died at a Russian polar wolf pen colony.

A hearse carrying the body of the Russian opposition leader is currently on its way to the Mother of God Quench My Sorrows Church, southeast of the Russian capital. This follows a dispute over if and when Vladimir Putin's henchmen will release the body.

When news of his death broke on February 16, prison officials claimed that Putin's staunchest critic was suffering from "sudden death syndrome." Both Navalny's wife and spokeswoman doubted otherwise, accusing Putin of "murder". Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the allegations "baseless."

Navalny's death is shrouded in mystery, and we may never know what happened inside the Hellhole prison where he was caged. But here we all know…

timeline

August 2020 - Navalny is flown to Berlin after being poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent.

January 2021 - Navalny is detained on his return to Russia for violating the terms of his parole while in Germany.

February 2021 - Navalny's suspended sentence replaced by two-and-a-half years' detention

March 2022 - Navalny is sentenced to a further nine years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement and contempt of court.

August 2023 - Navalny is sentenced to another 19 years in prison for extremism.

December 2023 - Navalny has been missing from prison for nearly three weeks.

February 16, 2024 - Navalny dies in prison at the age of 47.

Cover in bruises.

Novaya Gazeta Europe reported that paramedics claimed that Navalny's body was found in a morgue covered in wounds.

One - who works at the hospital where his body was sent - said: "As an experienced paramedic, I can say that the injuries described by those who saw them were caused by convulsions. down but the convulsion is too strong, then the wound appears."

Killed by 'new poison'

The General SVR Telegram channel, which claims to be run by former Russian security officials, reported: "Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a poison that causes vasospasm. The poison was recently created and It was used in five trials on prisoners in Russian prisons.

All five people, including Alexei Navalny (he was the fifth), died after consuming the food toxin.” Vasospasm is the narrowing of the arteries caused by the continuous constriction of blood vessels.

'One punch' death

Vladimir Osichkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, said Navalny was allegedly killed by a "punch to the heart", which he said was "an old method of the KGB's special forces division". .

He told The Times: "They trained their operatives to kill a man who was punched in the heart, in the middle of the body. That was the hallmark of the KGB.

Osechkin said Navalny would be kept in sub-zero temperatures for more than two hours to slow his circulation and weaken his body. Gulagu.net also claimed that Navalny was subjected to "binding, manipulation, restraining of arms and legs and cold torture" before he died.

'Natural' death

Surprisingly, Ukraine's spy chief Kyrillo Budanov suggested that Navalny was not taken out by Putin's henchmen. He said: “I may disappoint you, but what we do know is that he did indeed die of a blood clot.

And it's more or less confirmed... It was not taken from the Internet, but, unfortunately, a natural [death].” This would match the medical certificate given to Navalny's family by the Russian authorities, which It was said that he died of natural causes.