Russia has denied claims made by Alexei Navalny’s widow that he was poisoned by the nerve agent novichok.
In a video statement on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya accused Vladimir Putin of killing her husband and hiding his body so traces of the poison would disappear.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said the Russian president did not watch the video and would not comment given Mrs Navalnaya has recently been widowed, but he did deny novichok allegations.
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“Of course, these are absolutely unsubstantiated, obnoxious accusations against the head of the Russian state,” he said.
“But given that Yulia Navalnaya was widowed just days earlier, I will leave it without comment.”
“I am not familiar with this statement,” he added, referring to the novichok allegation.
“But if it contained such words, it is nothing but unsubstantiated accusations, because they are not supported by anything, not confirmed.”
Mrs Navalnaya vowed to name those involved in his death and said he was killed because Mr Putin “couldn’t break him”.
In a nine-minute video message laced with rage, the 47-year-old accused Mr Putin of killing her husband and said he had cut away half of her heart.
“I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” she said in the video message where she vowed to continue his work.
“I urge you to stand next to me,” she added. “I ask you to share the rage with me. Rage, anger, hatred towards those who dared to kill our future.”
The 47-year-old fell unconscious and died suddenly on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony above the Arctic Circle where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.
His body has reportedly been taken to the Salekhard District Clinical Hospital morgue, but Mr Navalny’s mother Lyudmila and his lawyers were “not allowed to go in”.
Many world leaders have blamed Mr Putin and his government for Mr Navalny’s death.
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The Russian president has made no public comment on the death, but it has deepened a schism in relations between Moscow and the West.
Asked about police detaining people who laid flowers at monuments in Moscow and other cities after Mr Navalny’s death, Mr Peskov said police had been acting in strict accordance with the law.
