A spokesperson for the late Alexei Navalny declared the deceased Russian opposition leader to have been murdered.
Spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh made the claim on Saturday via a post on social media platform X.
"Alexei Navalny was murdered. His death occurred on February 16 at 2:17 p.m. local time, according to the official message to Alexei’s mother," said Yarmysh. "An employee of the colony said that the body of Navalny is now in Salekhard."
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"It was picked up by investigators from the IC. Now they are conducting 'investigations' with him. We demand that Alexei Navalny's body be handed over to his family immediately.
Russia’s prison agency announced Friday that Navalny — a prominent critic of Vladimir Putin — died at the age of 47.
Navalny has previously organized anti-government demonstrations and has run for office to advocate for reforms against what he claims is corruption in Russia. He was the victim of an alleged assassination attempt in 2020 when he suffered poisoning from a suspected Novichok nerve agent.
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Navalny was being held at the IK-3 penal colony, also known as "Polar Wolf," in Kharp, Russia — one of the country's toughest prisons.
Officials said Navalny reported feeling unwell following a walk at the penal colony where he was jailed in Siberia before losing consciousness and dying.
Yarmysh is far from the first person to make the claim of murder regarding Navalny's highly suspicious death. World leaders and international affairs experts around the world have pointed the finger at Putin's regime for the highly suspicious death.
President Biden told reporters at the White House Friday that "we don't know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Navalny's "death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built."
Whenever Putin spoke about Navalny, he made it a point to never mention the activist by name, referring to him as "that person" or similar wording, in an apparent effort to diminish his importance, according to The Associated Press.
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.
