Adding to the pain felt by the family of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, his mother and his team were denied access to his body, and investigators told them that the official investigation into his death was being extended, and it was not clear how long it would last. Takes.

“They are cowards and despicable people who hide his body and refuse to hand it over to his mother,” Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the fierce Kremlin critic, said in a video statement four days after Russian prison authorities announced his death in prison. “Sudden death syndrome.”

Navalnaya, who lives in exile outside Russia, accused the Russian authorities of “miserably lying while waiting for a trace of another Putin Novichok gas to disappear,” referring to… The poison allegedly used by Russian security services In at least one previous politically motivated assassination attempt.

Navalnaya urged Russians to “share not only the grief and endless pain that has engulfed and consumed us — but also my anger,” as she vowed to continue her husband's mission to expose Putin's alleged misdeeds and bring closure. His long reign Over Russia.

Navalny's spokeswoman, in a post on social media, also accused Russian officials of lying and “playing for time,” while the authorities continued. Suppression of tributes for the late dissident.

At the Solovetsky Stone in Moscow – a memorial to victims of political repression – people laid flowers in memory of Navalny.

But in Putin's Russia, that repression is everywhere, and the honors were quickly swept away, along with dozens of others across the country. Hundreds of people have dared to pay tribute to Navalny publicly since his death on Friday Arrested.

“I think this shows a deep mourning among the people who were Navalny supporters, who were a large swath of Russians,” Russian analyst Jeff Hawn told CBS News, adding that many of these people “believe they have lost hope now, because… “In many ways, Navalny was able to bring together a broad coalition of people who wanted Russia to be a normal country, a more normal country.”

Navalny was last seen alive just one day before his death, appearing from prison via remote video link to appear in court.

He looked emaciated but appeared to be healthy and in good spirits at the IK-3 “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Russia’s far north, where he was being held after a host of convictions – all of which he and his many supporters around the world had. They are always dismissed as baseless and politically motivated.

Prison officials said he went for a walk on Friday, suddenly felt ill and collapsed, and then prison paramedics were unable to revive him. They later attributed this to “sudden death syndrome.”

But Navalny's allies, President Biden and many other world leaders, He says Putin bears responsibility For the departure of his most prominent critics.

The Russian president was photographed smiling during a visit to factory workers shortly after news of Navalny's death broke on Friday, but he has yet to comment publicly.

After exposing corruption at almost every level of the Russian state, often targeting Putin himself, Navalny survived at least two poisoning attempts and spent years in some of Russia's most notorious prisons before dying at the age of 47, leaving behind his wife Yulia. And two children.

World leaders, including Mr Biden, have pledged to hold those responsible for Navalny's death to account, but with the Russians due to go to the polls in a few weeks, Putin is certain to get another full term and accountability at any level. He showed up far away on Monday.