Russia has denied claims made by Alexei Navalny’s widow that he was poisoned by the nerve agent novichok.

In a video statement on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya accused Vladimir Putin of killing her husband and hiding his body so traces of the poison would disappear.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said the Russian president did not watch the video and would not comment given Mrs Navalnaya has recently been widowed, but he did deny novichok allegations.

Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

“Of course, these are absolutely unsubstantiated, obnoxious accusations against the head of the Russian state,” he said.

“But given that Yulia Navalnaya was widowed just days earlier, I will leave it without comment.”

“I am not familiar with this statement,” he added, referring to the novichok allegation.

“But if it contained such words, it is nothing but unsubstantiated accusations, because they are not supported by anything, not confirmed.”

Mrs Navalnaya vowed to name those involved in his death and said he was killed because Mr Putin “couldn’t break him”.

In a nine-minute video message laced with rage, the 47-year-old accused Mr Putin of killing her husband and said he had cut away half of her heart.

“I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia,” she said in the video message where she vowed to continue his work.

“I urge you to stand next to me,” she added. “I ask you to share the rage with me. Rage, anger, hatred towards those who dared to kill our future.”

The 47-year-old fell unconscious and died suddenly on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony above the Arctic Circle where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.

His body has reportedly been taken to the Salekhard District Clinical Hospital morgue, but Mr Navalny’s mother Lyudmila and his lawyers were “not allowed to go in”.

Many world leaders have blamed Mr Putin and his government for Mr Navalny’s death.

Read more:
Donald Trump breaks silence on Alexei Navalny’s death
Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine shot dead

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

The Russian president has made no public comment on the death, but it has deepened a schism in relations between Moscow and the West.

Asked about police detaining people who laid flowers at monuments in Moscow and other cities after Mr Navalny’s death, Mr Peskov said police had been acting in strict accordance with the law.

Related posts:

Children as young as 11 ‘being beheaded’ amid Islamist insurgency in Mozambique Record £19.8m Hong Kong smuggling bust includes shark fins and endangered plants Ireland fires broadside at Russia over naval drills plan off coast – but lacks military muscle to do much else How the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been controversial from the start Wales beat Ukraine to qualify for first World Cup finals since 1958 ‘Powerful explosions’ behind two Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks in Baltic Sea Taliban ‘trying to erase women’ from society in Afghanistan Rioting police seize streets in protest after 10 officers killed by Haitian gangs Israel shoots down rockets after deadly commando raid on flashpoint West Bank town ‘Indifference kills’: Zelenskyy leads global tributes on Holocaust Memorial Day Passenger opens plane door mid-flight House where Hitler was born to become police station