Navalny body ‘bruised from being held down during convulsions’
Medic’s revelation fuels speculation that nerve agent was used to kill Putin foe
THE body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny reportedly has bruises caused by being held down while suffering convulsions.
The claim was made by a paramedic sent to the Arctic prison where Mr Navalny, 47, died in a suspected political assassination.
The ambulance worker said the bruises probably came from medics trying to save Mr Navalny as he suffered a seizure and then cardiac arrest.
The source did not speculate on how this happened, but convulsions are one of the known effects of being poisoned by a nerve agent such as novichok.
Mr Navalny – the Kremlin’s most vocal critic – survived an attempt on his life using the Russian-developed chemical weapon in 2020.
His death on Friday provoked widespread outrage, with several world leaders directly accusing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin of his murder.
Mr Navalny’s family have demanded that his body be handed over after being misled about where it was being held.
They were told it would be in the main mortuary in Salekhard, close
Known effects of being poisoned
to the remote penal colony where Mr Navalny was imprisoned on trumped-up charges. But now it has emerged the body remains under armed guard in the town’s main hospital, where a post-mortem is being carried out.
Prison authorities claimed Mr Navalny ‘fell ill’ after taking a walk and ‘almost immediately lost consciousness’ – which they later described as ‘sudden death syndrome’. But his mother said he was ‘healthy and cheerful’ when she visited him four days before his death, and he was seen laughing and joking on a video-link court appearance on Thursday.
The account of the paramedic indicates the former lawyer’s death was not straightforward or instant. They said of the bruising: ‘The person is convulsing, they [medics] are trying to restrain him, but the convulsions can be very strong, and that’s why bruises appear.’
There were signs that attempts had been made to resuscitate Mr Navalny because there was bruising sufficient with receiving ‘chest compressions’.
The source told independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe: ‘They still tried to resuscitate him and he died, most likely, from cardiac arrest. But why this [heart] stop happened, no one is saying anything yet.’
Mr Navalny’s family have been told they will not be given the body for burial until a cause of death has been established. His lawyer said yesterday: ‘It’s obvious that the killers want to cover their tracks and are therefore not handing over Alexei’s body, hiding it even from his mother.’
Russian police have detained hundreds of activists trying to pay tribute to Mr Navalny since the news of his death broke. The Solovetsky Stone in Moscow, a monument to political repression, has become a major site of tributes. At the Wall of Grief memorial to Soviet-era repression, police in the city set up fences to deter mourners.
They had detained 401 people across Russia by yesterday morning, with more than 200 arrests in St Petersburg. Courts there have ordered 42 of those detained to serve from one to six days in jail.
In Moscow, at least six people were ordered to serve 15 days in jail, according to the OVD-Info human rights group.
Among those detained was Grigory Mikhnov-Voitenko, a priest of the Apostolic Orthodox Church, who had announced plans for a St Petersburg memorial service on social media.
He was charged with organising a rally and placed in a holding cell, but was later taken to hospital after suffering a stroke.
Mr Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, yesterday posted a photo of the couple on social media.