Navalny's Body Was 'Abused': Widow Yulia Claims in Emotional Address | WATCH

Strasbourg – Russia's late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya said that his body was “abused” after he was “killed” in the Artic penal colony, earlier this month. While addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday morning, Navalny claimed that the Russian politician was “tortured for three years”, e he was kept in a tiny cell, starved and denied access to the outside world, Sky News reported. Navalny who died on February 16, was touted as one of the most prominent critics of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, the proclamation from Navalny's wife came shortly after her late husband's team announced that his funeral would be held in Moscow on Friday.

While holding back her tears, Navalnaya went on to call the Russian President a “mobster” and stated that Putin is running a criminal gang" in Russia. “Putin is the leader of an organised criminal gang,” said Navalnaya, who went on to blame the Russian president for her husband's murder. “You are not dealing with a politician but with a bloody mobster,” she added. The Russian wife also stated that she fear that there will be disruption and arrests at her husband's funeral. In few weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested for laying flowers and mourning the death of the Russian opposition leader. “I’m not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or whether the police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband,” Navalnaya told the European Parliament.

Navalny's funeral to be held in Moscow

Meanwhile, Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's spokesperson took to X, formally known as Twitter to announce that Navalny's funeral would be held on Friday. “Alexey’s funeral service will take place in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Maryino on March 1 at 14.00. Come early. The funeral will take place at the Borisov Cemetery,” Yarmysh wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. Yarmysh further mentioned that the Russian leader would then be buried at the Borisovskoye cemetery, which is located on the other side of the Moskva River to the south. However, it is still not clear how the authorities would ensure crowd control, but heavy police presence is expected in the region. “We started to look for a church and a hall for 1 March. Everywhere they refused to give us anything. In some places we were told it was forbidden,” said exiled ally Ivan Zhdanov.

“We don’t care about the message. Alexei needs to be buried... To have a chance to say goodbye, it is better to come in advance,” he added. In her Wednesday speech, Navalnaya went on to insist that the Russian President “must answer” not only for imprisoning her husband but also for the war with Ukraine. “My husband will never see what a beautiful Russia of the future will look like, but we must see it. I will do my best to make his dream come true. The evil will fall, and the beautiful future will come,” she concluded before receiving a standing ovation.