The death of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny in the Arctic prison where he was held is being investigated as required by law, regardless of Western reactions to the event, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.
The Russian prison service announced Navalny’s passing on Friday, saying attempts to resuscitate him failed after he collapsed during a daily walk. Within hours, multiple Western public figures, including national leaders, blamed the Russian government for the death. Some called out President Vladimir Putin personally in their statements. No autopsy results have been released so far.
In the absence of factual information “we believe such uncouth remarks are absolutely unacceptable,” Peskov said.
”They can hardly harm our head of state, but they definitely give no credit to those who deliver such statements,” he added.
The 47-year-old Navalny was a vocal critic of the Russian government, and hailed as an “opposition leader” in the West. He set up a movement which released multiple reports on alleged corruption, and organized a number of protest rallies.
Navalny was taken into custody in 2021 after violating the term of his suspended sentence in a corruption case involving French retailer Yves Rocher. Initially, he was placed in a high-security facility in Vladimir Region. Two years later, he was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment under a “special regime” for “extremism.”
In 2020, he claimed that the Russian government had tried to poison him and left for Germany, where he underwent medical treatment. Moscow suggested that the alleged assassination attempt was likely fabricated with Western assistance.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has released a list of foreign comments on Navalny’s death and noted that the Western “investigation” of the case contrasted sharply in swiftness with how the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines was dealt with.
This month, Sweden shut down its inquiry into the September 2022 attack after finding no culprits. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the US or someone acting on its behalf was to blame.