Navalny's body handed over to his mother - spokeswoman

Alexei Navalny's spokeswoman said she did not know if the authorities would allow a funeral to be held 'the way the family wants and the way Alexei deserves'

The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died suddenly and unexpectedly in prison last week, has been handed over to his mother, his spokeswoman has said.

In a post on X, Kira Yarmysh said she did not know if the authorities would allow a funeral to be held "the way the family wants and the way Alexei deserves".

It comes as his widow Yulia Navalnaya had accused President Vladimir Putin of "satanism" for not allowing the body to be returned to his family.

Mr Navalny's mother Lyudmila said authorities threatened to bury him on the grounds of the Arctic prison colony where he died earlier this month if she did not agree to a "secret" funeral.

"You tortured him alive, now you torture him while he is dead," Yulia Navalnaya, who has vowed to continue her husband's work, said in a new video, published this morning.

Russian authorities have said only that an investigation is ongoing and have previously criticised accusations from Ms Navalnya as "unfounded and vulgar".

Ms Navalnaya said that she believed the pressure put on Mr Navalny's mother was coming directly from Mr Putin.

"Putin is directing it all. It's Putin saying, 'Put pressure on the mother, break her, tell her the body of her son is rotting'," she said.

"This is the same Putin that likes to show that he is a practicing Christian," she said.

Mr Putin has for decades portrayed himself as a devoted Orthodox Christian and has in recent years focused on promoting what he calls "traditional values".

"What Putin is doing now is hatred. No, not even hatred, it's some kind of satanism," Ms Navalnaya said.

"We always knew that Putin's faith is fake, but now we can see it like never before," she added.

On the anniversary of Russia launching its military offensive, the late Kremlin critic's wife also denounced Mr Putin's decision to send troops into Ukraine.

"You will answer for all of this... And for this (Navalny's death) and for the war that you unleashed two years ago, also hiding behind Christian values," Ms Navalnaya said.

"You are just killing. You are just killing sleeping people at night with missiles blessed by the church."