Navalny’s wife accuses Russian authorities of hiding his body

Russian authorities on Monday refused to allow Alexei Navalny’s mother and lawyer into a morgue where his body was reportedly being held, Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on social media. Authorities have not shared an official cause of death for the opposition leader. His team has claimed that Russian officials were stalling the autopsy. Navalny died last week at an Arctic prison colony. Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, in a video posted online, blamed Russian leader Vladimir Putin for her husband’s death and vowed to continue his work to uncover corruption in Russia.

How have world leaders responded to the incident? Germany on Monday planned to propose to the European Union new sanctions against Russia in response to Navalny’s death, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Likewise, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell proposed to rename the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime for the leader, “Navalny Human Rights Sanctions Regime.” Meanwhile, President Joe Biden on Friday blamed Putin for Navalny’s death. Russian authorities have arrested hundreds of people paying tribute to the opposition leader, according to Russian human rights group OVD-Info.

Dig deeper: Read William Inboden’s opinion piece about the meaning of Navalny’s death.