The body of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been handed over to his mother following stepped-up efforts she and Navalny's widow launched to pressure Russian authorities to release the body more than a week after his suspicious death at an Arctic prison.
Ivan Zhdanov, the former head of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, and Kira Yarmysh, former press secretary for Navalny, announced on February 24 that Navalny's body had been handed over to Lyudmila Navalnaya in the Arctic city of Salekhard.
Zhdanov's message on Telegram thanked everyone who had called on Russian authorities to return Navalny’s body to his mother, while Yarmysh's message said tfuneral arrangements were not yet clear.
"Lyudmila Ivanovna is still in Salekhard. The funeral is still pending," Yarmysh said on X, formerly Twitter. "We do not know if the authorities will interfere to carry it out as the family wants and as [Navalny] deserves. We will inform you as soon as there is news."
Russians continue to honor Navalny's memory despite the arrest of hundreds of people, including some who were handcuffed and hauled off for placing flowers at memorials.
SEE ALSO: The Week In Russia: Aleksei Navalny: The Life And Death Of 'Putin's Prisoner'A line reportedly formed at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, images on Telegram channels appeared to show on February 24. Police officers reportedly checked the documents of several people waiting in the line.
In St. Petersburg, several dozen people mourned Navalny at the Smolny Cathedral by lighting candles in his memory.
Earlier on February 24, Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, issued a statement about prison authorities’ failure to release her husband’s body in which she accused President Vladimir Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force Lyudmila Navalnaya to agree to a secret funeral.
"You tortured him alive [and] you torture him now that he is dead" and alleging that "Putin is directing all of it," said Yulia Navalnaya, who has vowed to continue her husband's fight against President Vladimir Putin's regime, in the video.
The treatment of his body nine days after he was "murdered" exposed the Kremlin leader's "fake" appeals to "traditional values" and the Christian Orthodox faith, she added in the 6-minute video. "You will be held to account for all of this," Navalnaya said.
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Aleksei Navalny, takes part in a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on February 19.
Family and friends and Western officials have said Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. Russian officials have said no foul play was involved and called the international outrage over Navalny's death in custody "hysterical."
Zhdanov said in an interview with Current Time on February 23 that the authorities were refusing to hand over the body to hide evidence of his murder. He also said they fear a public funeral will attract a massive crowd of supporters laying flowers before the open coffin.
“They don't want to see it, they don't want it to happen,” he said.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a self-exiled leading Russian opposition figure, agreed with that assessment, saying a public funeral could trigger “large-scale confrontations” between Navalny supporters and law enforcement.
Navalny was Russia’s most popular opposition leader with a large, dedicated following around the country. He had organized some of the largest public protests against Putin’s rule, drawing tens of thousands of citizens into the streets despite the threat of arrest.