The widow of former Russian Federal Security Service agent, Alexander Litvinenko, has said Vladimir Putin critics in Russia need support from the West.
Marina Litvinenko’s husband, a prominent Putin critic, died in 2006 after being poisoned in London with Polonium 210, a rare and very potent radioactive isotope.
The former FSB agent’s murder was suspected to have been personally signed off by Mr Putin, but Russia has always denied any involvement.
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Speaking to Kay Burley on Sky News Breakfast, Ms Litvinenko said she cannot be silent after the death of another critic of the Russian leader, Alexei Navalny.
Calling Mr Putin a “monster” Ms Litvinenko said she was “shocked” to hear the news of Mr Navalny’s death, but had “no doubt” the Russian president was responsible.
“You can’t expect anything else from Putin,” she said.
When asked if she was fearful of speaking out against the Russian regime, she replied “I don’t” adding that living in fear would be what Mr Putin wants.
“I am more thinking about people living in Russia, they have more dangerous lives, but they are still working on the outside,” she said.
“They are in need of support, and we are living here in the West we need to support people in Russia.
“We need to do everything to save the lives of these people, otherwise Putin’s regime will achieve its result.”
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Mr Navalny’s death was reported on Friday, and while the cause of death remains unknown, Western leaders have made clear they hold the Russian regime ultimately responsible.
The prison authorities claimed the opposition leader felt unwell and lost consciousness following a walk at a penal colony within the Arctic Circle. But over the weekend, Mr Navalny’s allies have struggled to located his body and as of Saturday no post-mortem examination had been performed.
On Monday, Mr Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said the politician’s mother and a lawyer arrived at a morgue to see his body early on Monday morning, but were not allowed to go in.
“One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexey’s body was there, they did not answer,” she wrote on X.
