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Re-elected Russian president makes first public comment on death of opposition leader, which he calls ‘sad event’Vladimir Putin has claimed he had agreed to a prisoner swap involving Alexei Navalny before the opposition leader’s sudden death in an Arctic prison last month.Speaking in central Moscow after early results indicated he had won Russia’s presidential election in a landslide, Putin said unnamed people made an...

Baltic country’s state security says assault on Leonid Volkov was probably to stop Russian opposition influencing electionLithuania has blamed Moscow for the bloody hammer attack on a longtime aide to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny outside his home in Vilnius.Leonid Volkov, 43, was in hospital briefly after he was attacked with a hammer by an unknown assailant on Tuesday night in the...

As Russians prepare to give the president another six-year term this week, an ex-rival has gone from protest candidate to grotesque war hawkTwo election cycles ago, in 2012, Sergei Mironov was loudly playing the role of opposition to Russia’s ruling party, wearing the white ribbon of the protest movement in the State Duma and claiming his run against Vladimir Putin was “serious”.If made president,...

Western diplomats attend as chanting crowd pays tribute to opposition leader who died in Arctic penal colony• Alexei Navalny funeral – latest updates• Funeral of Alexei Navalny – in picturesDefying the Kremlin’s warning of arrests, thousands of mourners have gathered in Moscow to bid farewell to the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, two weeks after Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic died in an Arctic prison.Crowds...

G7 leaders urge ‘additional support to close Ukraine’s remaining budget gap for 2024’Here are some of the latest images coming out of Ukraine:In a new bookshop opened in Kyiv on the street where Putin planned a conquerors’ parade two years ago, the mood is sombre. Continue reading...

State media reports that chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, was in Ukraine to discuss Moscow’s next steps in the warRussia launched 19 attack drones at Ukraine overnight and six missiles, with the Ukrainian air defence systems destroying 13 of the drones and one missile, Ukraine’s air force said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.Some of the drones that were not destroyed did not reach...

Ilya Yashin says Vladimir Putin ordered murder of Alexei Navalny, as Russian state opens new criminal case against latter’s brotherA jailed member of Russia’s opposition has said he fears for his life after the death of Alexei Navalny, as the Putin critic’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, demanded the Kremlin release his body so he can be “buried with dignity”.Yet as the appeals came, the Russian...

Widow of Alexei Navalny says she wants to ‘build a free Russia’ and says she will reveal why ‘Putin killed him’Yulia Navalnaya has published a video address in which she vowed to continue her late husband’s political work and called on Russians to rally around her as Alexei Navalny’s family were told they would not get access to his body for another two weeks.“I...

Outrage over jailed opposition leader’s death grows with detention of over 350 people in Russia who attended vigilsAlexei Navalny – obituaryAlexei Navalny’s allies have accused the Kremlin of “covering their tracks” as, two days after the imprisoned opposition leader’s death in custody, uncertainty continued to surround the whereabouts of his body and what it may reveal about how he died.Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and...

With Ukraine retreating and western sanctions having little impact, the Russian president is growing bolder and may embark on more reckless moves Vladimir Putin smiled and looked unusually festive on Friday as he praised factory workers and joked with state reporters at an industrial plant in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk.Putin’s confidence was unmistakable – a sign of his full belief that he would...

In Russia, the battle to eradicate the opposition leader and his legacy will continue long after his deathIn Russia, it is not enough to kill an opposition leader. His ageing mother must travel to the Arctic Circle to search a prison colony and a morgue for his body. Russians with the temerity to lay carnations in his memory must be detained.Even a preliminary cause...

Russian opposition leader’s death occurred on Friday, say supporters, but official cause remains disputedThe death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, has been confirmed by his representatives, who are calling for the return of his body amid confusion over the cause of the death of Putin’s once most significant political challenger.Navalny, 47, died in jail on 16 February at 2.17pm local time, said...

Views on what the future might hold at a pivotal moment for the country’s fractured pro-democracy movementWestern leaders have held Vladimir Putin responsible for Alexei Navalny’s death in prison, where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”.Navalny’s death – a pivotal moment for the country’s fractured pro-democracy movement – sent waves of anger and despair through the ranks of his...