Under suspicion. The Kremlin’s first reaction after Navalny’s death: Spokesman Dimitri Peskov said that Putin has already been informed and that they have no details about the circumstances of the death.

MOSCOW.- The Russian government of Vladimir Putin considered this Friday “totally unacceptable” accusations from Western powers that involve him in the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison.

As reported in a statement by the Federal Penitentiary Service of the prison where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Navalny became unwell after a walk and lost consciousness. According to the prison report, the doctors who arrived at the prison tried to revive him without success.

“There is no other explanation than the fact that all these reactions were prepared in advance (…) A distinctive feature of all these statements is the complete absence of even an allusion to the need to wait for the results of the forensic examination and investigation,” the Foreign Ministry added.

“There is no information about the cause of that death and yet these statements multiply. We consider them totally unacceptable”said Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov, quoted by Russian media.

Yesterday, Aleksey Navalny spoke in court via video link. He seemed to be in good health and and even joked. pic.twitter.com/mXDeJuVpPg

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 16, 2024

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted in the same terms, reviling in a statement what it described as cynicism, hypocrisy and unscrupulousness of Western leaders.

“The reaction of Western leaders, politicians and media to the news of Alexei Navalny’s death has once again demonstrated their hypocrisy, cynicism and lack of scruples,” he said in a statement. “This is the tactic of ‘Russia is to blame in all situations’ in action. For every such case there is a ready-made cliché comment in stock.”

Western leaders They immediately blamed the Kremlin for the death of the opposition leader, unjustly locked up and transferred from prison several times.

“I am literally not surprised and outraged by the news of Alexei Navalny’s death. “He bravely stood up to corruption, violence and all the bad things that Putin’s government was doing,” said US President Joe Biden, giving a brief message at the White House hours after the leader’s death was announced. Russian opponent.

The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, He said at a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that “Putin must be held accountable for Navalny’s death.”

“Now we know exactly what kind of regime this is,” Scholz said. And he added: “And it is a terrible thing, also as a sign of how Russia has changed. After the hopeful events that unfortunately took place a long time ago and that were moving in the direction of democracy, it is no longer a democracy.”

Alexei Navalny is seen behind bars in the police van after being detained during protests in Moscow on May 8, 2012.Sergey Ponomarev – AP

The European Union also blamed the “Russian regime” of Navalny’s death, according to the president of the European Council, Charles Michel.

Russia will have to respond to “serious questions” For his part, the Secretary General of NATO indicatedJens Stoltenberg.

Over the course of 12 years, Navalny, who for a time was very close to nationalism, He established himself as the number one detractor of Putin and his “party of thieves and swindlers,” as I used to describe it.

Alexei @navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. For his ideals, he made the ultimate sacrifice.

The EU holds the Russian regime for sole responsible for this tragic death.

I extend my deepest condolences to his family. And to those who fight for democracy around…

— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) February 16, 2024

Navalny, harassed by the authorities and ignored by the official media, built notoriety on the Internet and networks in the 2010s, thanks to the dissemination of viral video investigations that denounced the corruption of Russian power.

In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned in Siberia and almost lost his life. He was then transferred to a hospital in Germany where he received treatment. The Russian government was accused of being behind that episode.

When the news of Navalny’s death broke, President Vladimir Putin was participating in a televised question-and-answer session with students and industrial workers at a factory in the Chelyabinsk region of the Urals.

Agencies AFP, AP and DPA

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