Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of Alexei Navalny, signed the papers at the morgue in Salekhard after her son’s death and shared a video message to confirm the event. The documents, she said, included the medical conclusion that the death was caused by natural causes. She also noted that, by law, the body should have been released to her once she had signed the documents, but that release did not occur at that time.
According to a report issued on February 16, the Federal Penitentiary Service department for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug stated that Navalny grew unwell after returning from a walk and shortly afterward lost consciousness. Resuscitation attempts continued for about half an hour but were unsuccessful. Additional context has been reported by Newspapers.Ru, which provided further details around the incident.
In a separate development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia had previously announced that Oleg Navalny was wanted on criminal charges, adding another layer to the ongoing public and governmental discussions surrounding the family and events.