Navalny’s Murder: Yulia Navalnaya Appeals for Truth and Justice

My husband, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned. These are not empty words—I have every reason to say so. 

He died in a penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle—he was transferred to this remote, closed off place two months before his death, clearly on purpose. Over the three years he spent behind bars, his conditions got worse and worse. They did not just want to kill him; they tried to break him. They tormented him with hunger, cold and total isolation. He was denied phone calls and visits, and later they even stopped passing on letters. 

On the 16th of February 2024, at around 12:10 p.m., Alexei was taken out for his scheduled “walk.” The space where he had these walks is basically the same cell—only instead of a ceiling there is a metal grate.

Some time after the walk began, Alexei knocked on the door and said he felt ill. When the door of the yard was opened, he was crouched on the ground and repeated that he felt unwell. They did not even take him to the medical unit—they just took him back to the punishment cell. 

Alexei lay on the floor, pulled his knees up to his stomach and moaned in pain. He said his chest and stomach were burning. Then he began to vomit. These are photos of that very cell. According to the testimony of some prison officers, Alexei was having convulsions, was breathing heavily and coughing. 

The guards left Alexei alone in the cell and locked the door. Only the head of the medical unit, when he returned from lunch, ordered to move him to the medical room and called an ambulance. The ambulance was called more than forty minutes after Alexei started feeling ill. By that time he was already unconscious. The crew who arrived ten minutes later tried to resuscitate him, but with no success. At 2:23 p.m. the cardiac monitor showed no activity. 

A year and a half ago I promised that we would do everything to investigate Alexei’s murder. We are keeping that promise. The killers worked carefully to erase traces—but we have managed to preserve some evidence.

In February 2024 we managed to obtain samples of Alexei’s biological material and securely smuggle them abroad. Laboratories in at least two countries examined these samples independently of each other. And these laboratories in two different countries reached the same conclusion: Alexei was killed—more specifically, he was poisoned. 

Western states say they have no legal basis to open criminal proceedings. There are also “political considerations”: they wouldn’t want the inconvenient truth to come out at the wrong moment. Now is not the time. They claim there is no legal ground to share the test results. 

But I have grounds—not legal ones, but moral ones. Alexei was my husband. He was my friend. He was a symbol of hope for our vast country. Putin killed that hope. We have the right to know how he did it. I demand that the laboratories that conducted the analyses publish their results. Stop pandering to Putin on account of so-called higher considerations. 

While you remain silent, he does not stop. Perhaps even now someone else is dying from another one of Putin’s poisonings. Not just in Russia—around the world. We have already seen such cases. 

I call on journalists: join me in demanding these answers. I know some of you are already aware that these analyses exist. The only way to stand up to Putin is to act with courage and openness. 

I demand full public disclosure of the results showing exactly what poison was used against my husband, Alexei Navalny. I demand this for myself, for our children, for Alexei’s parents, for our supporters in Russia, and for everyone around the world who fights for freedom and truth. 

We all deserve to know.