The late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, requested on Saturday that his body be released for burial and charged “demonic” Russian President Vladimir Putin with “torturing” his corpse.
Navalnaya questioned Putin’s frequently stated Christian faith and said that Putin was keeping her husband’s body “hostage” in a six-minute video that was uploaded on YouTube.
On Friday, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila stated that unless she consented to burying her son in a private funeral, Russian investigators would not remove his body from a morgue in the isolated Arctic city of Salekhard.
She claimed that an official had informed her that Navalny’s body was already decaying and that she should comply with their requests.
Officials threatened to bury Navalny in the isolated prison colony where he passed away, according to aides to the commander on Saturday, unless his family complied with their demands.
An emotional Yulia Navalnaya stated in the film that Putin was “torturing” Navalny in death, just as he had done in life, and that Putin was personally to blame for Navalny’s body’s whereabouts.
“We were aware that Putin was not a real believer. However, we can see it more clearly now than we have in the past “said the black-clad Navalnaya.
“No true Christian could ever do what Putin is now doing with Alexei’s body.”
Vladimir Putin has positioned himself as a champion of traditional, conservative values against what he sees as destructive Western liberalism since taking office again in 2012.
Additionally, he has made a big show of his commitment to the Russian Orthodox Church by frequently attending services during holy days and sharing his own beliefs.
According to Navalnaya, her husband was a devoted Christian who went to church and observed Lent fasts even while incarcerated. She said that Christian principles had motivated him to become politically active.
As she ended her video, she uttered the following: “Return my husband’s body to us.” We wish to have a burial service and, in keeping with Orthodox Christian tradition, bury him in the earth in a humane manner.”
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