A prominent Russian opposition figure has claimed that a state-backed hit squad is “physically eliminating” opponents of Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Kara-Murza urges Russians Do not give up after sudden death Alexei Navalny.
He is a British-Russian citizen serving a 25-year prison sentence for treason, and claims there were two poisoning attempts against him.
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The 42-year-old was found guilty of criticizing Russia's war in the country Ukraineand was sentenced to a long prison term as part of a crackdown on freedom of expression.
Now behind bars in Siberia, he appeared in court via video link on Thursday.
“We owe it to our fallen comrades to continue working even harder and achieve what they lived and died for,” he said in a video clip circulated on social media.
After the first alleged poisoning attempt, he nearly died of kidney failure – and was hospitalized and placed in a medically induced coma after a similar illness two years later.
According to his wife, doctors confirmed that he died of poisoning.
He claimed that there is a “death squad within the FSB, a group of professional killers in the service of the state whose mission is to physically eliminate political opponents of Putin’s regime.”
He also said investigative journalists had evidence that FSB officers participated in his poisoning, attacked Navalny with a nerve agent in 2020, and had surveilled opposition politician Boris Nemtsov before his murder in 2015.
Another jailed opposition figure – Ilya Yashin – also claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin He was responsible for Mr Navalny's death.
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What happened to Alexei Navalny?
“I have no doubt that it is Putin. He is a war criminal,” he said in a social media post shared on his behalf.
“Navalny was his main opponent in Russia and the Kremlin hated him. Putin had the motive and the opportunity. I am convinced he ordered the killing.”
Yashin went on to add that he felt a “black void inside” and vowed to speak out despite believing he was in danger.
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Navalny's mother appeals to Putin
The Kremlin has previously denied any involvement in the illness and death of opposition figures including Navalny.
Russian authorities said Navalny's cause of death is still unknown, and are refusing to hand over his body for two weeks while the preliminary investigation continues.
His family accused the government of procrastinating to try to hide the evidence.
