'Putin will be punished for what he has done to my husband': Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia Navalny

The untimely death of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, has shocked the entire world with many not believing the cause of his demise. His wife Yulia Navalny said on Friday that Putin and his associates would not go unpunished if the death of her husband turned out to be true.

Yulia Navalny appealed to the international community to come together and fight against Russia’s “horrific regime.”

A statement released by Russia’s federal penitentiary service claims that the Kremlin critic died after “he felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness” following which medical teams were called to carry out resuscitation measures. Still, they did not yield any positive results.

“I’d like Putin and all his staff… to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family and with my husband,” Yulia Navalnaya told the Munich Security Conference.

She added, “We should fight this horrific regime in Russia today. Vladimir Putin should be personally held for all the atrocities they have committed in our country in the last years.”

World leaders from across the world have come together to condemn Putin’s regime, blaming the administration for Navalny’s death.

‘Was healthy and happy’

Soon after learning about his death, Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of Navalny, wrote on Facebook, “I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison on the (Feb) 12, in a meeting. He was alive, healthy and happy.”

Navalnaya was quoted by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta saying that she had met her son on February 12 in prison and found him to be alive and happy.

‘No health complaints’

Navalny’s death has raised eyebrows in Russia with many questioning whether it was his health that led to the unfortunate incident.

A regional court in Moscow told the RIA news agency that the politician did not complain about his health and “spoke actively, presenting arguments in defence of his position.”

Separately a German lawyer for Navalny said he seemed “fit and strong” during the hearing one day before his death on Friday in an Arctic prison colony.

With inputs from agencies