Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov today rejected the request of high-ranking European Union (EU) diplomat Josep Borrell for an international investigation into the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Peskov emphasized that Russia generally considers the language of the request unacceptable, and even more so that it comes from Borell.
After a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, Borrell said Russia “must allow an independent and transparent international investigation” into the circumstances of Navalny’s “sudden death”.
Regarding the address of Alexei Navalny’s wife Yulia, published on social networks, Peskov said that her accusations were “baseless and unfounded.”
“We leave this without comment. Of course, these are absolutely baseless, outrageous allegations… But considering that she was widowed literally a few days ago, I leave it without comment,” he said.
The Russian Correctional Service announced on Friday that Navalny died in the prison colony where he was serving his sentence.
The service stated that Navalny lost consciousness after walking in the arctic Yamalo-Nenet Autonomous District, where the colony is located.
Russian authorities have carried out several inspections to establish the facts surrounding his death.
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after being hospitalized in Germany, where he was treated for poisoning. Western countries and Navalny himself have blamed Russia for the poisoning, which the Kremlin denies.
He was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of extremism and other crimes. He had already served 11.5 years on fraud charges.
In addition, Peskov said he had no information about reports claiming that former Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov, who hijacked a Mi-8 military helicopter last year and gave it to Ukraine, was shot dead in Spain.
“That issue is not on our agenda. We don’t have any information about it. I don’t know if there was a report through diplomatic channels,” he said.
