Back in 2017, BBC Hardtalk interviewed opposition leader Alexei Navalny ahead of his first attempt to challenge Vladimir Putin for the Russian presidency.

Speaking with Stephen Sackur in a frank interview, Navalny opened up about a host of issues close to his heart, including his complex relationship with Putin, how corruption maintains a strong grip on his country and what he hoped for Russia's future.

"I never had a day in my life when I wasn't under criminal prosecution," said Navalny in a particularly ominous exchange. "It's the way they fight me."

Sackur responded by noting that the anti-corruption activist was "treading a very fine line", and finished by warning that "if you go one inch too far you will end up in prison and who knows..."

Listen to the full interview here.

Image source, Reuters

Allies of Alexei Navalny, including his mother, are in the remote Russian town of Salekhard today, not far from the Arctic penal colony where he died.

They're trying to locate his body, but according to his spokeswoman, running into substantial resistance.

Kira Yarmysh wrote on X, external that his lawyer was "literally pushed out" of the mortuary and staff refused to answer questions about where his body was.

She says Russian authorities have told lawyers the investigation into his death has been extended.

"They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it," Yarmysh says.

Image source, Instagram/Yulia Navalnaya

We have been hearing this morning from Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya.

She was nearly always at his side as he campaigned against Putin - whether at political rallies or at his bedside following Novichok poisoning in 2020.

Yulia was born in Moscow in 1976 and attended Plekhanov Russian University of Economics before going on to build a career as an economist and banker.

She met the then aspiring lawyer Alexei Navalny in 1998 while on holiday in Turkey. They married two years later and went on to have two children.

Following her husband's poisoning in 2020 it is believed that Yulia and her children, Dasha and Zakhar, moved to Germany.

Despite supporting her husband's work she has previously claimed she isn't interested in politics.

"My main task is so that, in spite of everything, nothing in our family changes," she once said.

The video statement Yulia released suggests that, with the death of her husband, this now may change.

The last message Navalny sent to the outside world before his death was a Valentine's day post to her on Telegram.

"Babe, you and I have everything like in the song: cities between us, airfield take-off lights, blue blizzards and thousands of kilometres. But I feel that you are there every second, and I love you more and more."

On Sunday, Yulia paid a personal tribute to her husband on Instagram which in Russian simply read: "I love you".

You can read more about Yulia's life here.

Navalny's wife calls on Russians to stand beside herpublished at 11:50 Greenwich Mean Time 19 February 2024

11:50 GMT 19 February 2024

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent

This video opens with the word Alexei Navalny always used: "Hi!"

But it goes on to clarify that "this is Yulia Navalnaya", Navalny's wife. And she says she’s recording the statement because her husband has been killed in prison by Vladimir Putin.

It is a deliberate and dramatic step into the political spotlight that was occupied for years by Alexei Navalny. His widow speaks firmly, looking directly into the camera, though her voice cracks when she talks of the grief and never-ending pain that now envelop her.

But she also says she is furious – accusing Putin of killing Russia’s hope. Its freedom. Its future.

She alleges that the authorities are now hiding Navalny’s body, "lying pathetically and waiting for traces of another Putin Novichok to disappear". That’s a reference to the nerve agent that was used to poison Navalny in 2020.

Now his widow calls on Russians not to give in. To stand beside her, in continuing her husband’s political work. And his fight for a different Russia.

She signs off with his words: I’m not afraid. Don’t you be afraid.

Putin still hasn’t commented on Navalny’s death. In life, he never uttered the name of his biggest political rival. In the Arctic, where the politician was in prison, his mother is still trying to get access to his body, to find out more about how he died. The official investigation has been extended.

Image source, Reuters

Some developing news to bring you from Berlin now, where Germany's foreign ministry has summoned Russia's ambassador in Berlin.

The move arrives just hours after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said ministers would "initiate further sanctions measures" against Moscow in response to Navalny's death.

"A corresponding meeting will take place today in Berlin with the Russian ambassador," the ministry's spokesperson said at a press conference.

Let's bring you another excerpt from Yulia Navalnaya's video as she vows to continue her husband's work.

"I call on you to stand alongside me," she says. "To share not only the grief and unending pain that has enveloped us and wont let go.

"I also ask you to share the fury and hate for those who dared to kill our future. I speak to you in the words of Alexei, in which I believe truly. There is no shame in doing little.

"There is shame in doing nothing. In allowing them to scare you.

"What we need is a free, peaceful and happy Russia. The wonderful Russia of the future my husband so dreamed of. That’s what we need.

"That is the country I want to live in and for our children to grow up in. That’s the country I want to build together with you. The country Alexei Navalny imagined.

"That’s the only that way - no other – in which the unthinkable sacrifice he made, will not have been in vain.

Image source, AFP

More from Yulia Navalnaya who has released a video statement in the style of her husband.

"Hi! this is Yulia Navalnaya," she says.

"Another person should be here in my place. But that person was killed by Vladimir Putin.

"Somewhere in a prison beyond the Arctic Circle, Putin didn’t only kill Alexei Navalny as a person, he wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future.

"We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will tell you soon.

"But, the most important thing we can do for Alexei and for ourselves is to go on fighting."

Yulia Navalnaya has just posted a video statement in which she says:

"I will continue Alexei Navalny's work. Continue to fight for our country. And I call on all of you to stand alongside me."

She also blames Russian president Vladimir Putin who she says "killed my husband".

Image source, EPA

Where does Alexei Navalny's death leave what remains of political opposition in Russia as Vladimir Putin, who was first elected in 2000, runs for re-election as president next month?

Opposition candidate Boris Nadezhdin, who planned to run against Putin on an anti-Ukraine war ticket, has recently been barred from doing so - legally - because courts said lists of his supporters included some people who are no longer alive.

"The best way to change politics and authority in Russia is elections," Nadezhdin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He explained he met Navalny several times, but warned him not to "criticise Putin as a person".

"I only criticised Putin's politics," Nadezhdin says. Nonetheless, he still found himself at a loss for words upon learning of Navalny's "unbelievable" death.

"I knew Navalny like a brave and strong man and now we don't have enough information about his death."

Image source, Getty Images

We've just been hearing from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who says the investigation into Navalny's death is ongoing but as of Monday morning there are "no results yet”.

The investigation, he adds, “is being conducted in accordance with Russian law”.

The Kremlin spokesman also took a moment to defend Russian President Vladimir Putin against accusations levelled against him by Western leaders that he was responsible for Navalny's death.

"We consider it absolutely unacceptable to make such, well, frankly obnoxious statements," Peskov said.

"These statements, of course, cannot cause any damage to our head of our state."

When pushed about Putin's reaction to the news of the opposition leader's death, Peskov said: "I have nothing to add."

Image source, Reuters

Speaking in Brussels this morning before a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis was heard saying that he believes the death of Alexei Navalny is a “horrible reminder” that talks on sanctions against Moscow need to move ahead.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also added that she hopes the EU will “decide soon on a thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia”.

Image source, Reuters

At least 90 people have now been punished in Moscow and St Petersburg following the protests in Alexei Navalny's name over the weekend, human rights organisation OVD-Info reports.

In Moscow, 20 people were sentenced to various amounts of prison time - ranging from one day to nine days - and two people were fined 10,000 rubles (£85).

St Petersburg courts sentenced 63 people to prison, three people received fines of 10,000 rubles and another three receiving fines of 15,000 rubles (£128). One individual was assigned 40 hours of compulsory labour.

Hours after Navalny's death on Friday, the Russian prosecutor's office warned citizens against gathering in mass protests. Since then, police have reportedly detained more than 350 people in more than 30 cities across Russia.

After Alexei Navalny's death, many world leaders praised him as Russia's most prominent opposition politician, and also laid the blame for his death with the Kremlin.

Let's give you a quick summary of what some of the leaders have said:

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it appears Navalny paid for his courage with his life
• Navalny had been the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, according to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
• US President Joe Biden said the death in jail is more evidence of Vladimir Putin's brutality
• French President Emmanuel Macron said the Kremlin sent free spirits to the gulag "where they are condemned to death"
• Moscow has rejected accusations that it killed Navalny

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Alexei Navalny was President Vladimir Putin's most vociferous critic and viewed as a threat by the Kremlin.

The anti-corruption campaigner had been in jail since 2021 on charges widely viewed as politically motivated.

The 47-year-old survived poisoning attempts and spent years in some of Russia's most notorious jails, as he and his allies exposed corruption at almost every level of the Russian state.

You can watch some of his moments of defiance below:

Image source, Reuters

The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has been speaking in Brussels where EU leaders are meeting.

He says the bloc must send a "message of support" to the Russian opposition.

Members are expected to discuss new sanctions against Moscow at today's meeting, planning to have them in place by the two year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

Borrell also proposed that the EU rename its human rights sanctions regime, which targets individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights violations, in the late Navalny's name.

Image source, EPA

Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, has been invited to Brussels today, to join the Foreign Affairs Council of EU officials.

She is set to meet ministers as they discuss further sanctions against Russia.

On the day his death was announced, Navalnya took to the stage at an international security conference in Munich, receiving a standing ovation.

She addressed leaders including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Foreign Minister David Cameron:

"I thought for a long time if I should come out here or immediately fly to my children, but then I thought what Alexei would do in my place," she said. "And I'm sure he would be here, he would be on this stage."

She added that Putin and his circle "will be punished for everything they have done to our country, to my family and to my husband".

Image source, .

Aptly nicknamed the Polar Wolf, the prison sits above the Arctic Circle and is described as a "special regime colony", with temperatures in the region plummeting to -30C in winter.

It's so much on the outskirts of civilisation that it makes it nearly impossible for visitors to reach the site.

Navalny was transported to the prison from his previous incarceration at the Melekhovo colony, approximately four hours from Moscow, where he had been serving a two-year sentence.

During his time in prison he suffered with health issues, perhaps as a result of being poisoned with Novichok, for which he had required life-saving treatment in the West.

Reporting debilitating back pain, stomach pain and numbness in his legs, the opposition politician was denied access to medical records, medication and subject to hourly night checks.

On 22 January, he explained how the prison wardens would often wake everybody up at 5am to play the Russian national anthem.

"And right after that - the second most important song in the country: Shaman's 'Ya Russky,'" he said, a song which translates to "I'm Russian" and has become an unofficial anthem of Vladimir Putin's.

However, his humour and charisma were still apparent in December when he gave an insight into the 1,200 mile (1,930km) journey from Melekhovo to Kharp.

"The 20 days of my transportation were pretty exhausting, but I'm still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus," he joked.

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent

Ever since Alexei Navalny died his mother has been trying to get access to his body.

This morning, she visited the mortuary in a town near the Arctic prison where he was held, but she was not allowed inside.

Staff did not confirm whether Navalny's body was even being kept there. Navalny's spokeswoman says his lawyer was pushed out of the building. She now says the investigative committee have extended the investigation into the politician’s death, which the prison service says happened suddenly, on Friday.

There is no timeframe for any results. And no official explanation for the delay in establishing the cause of his death. So Navalny’s team are accusing the authorities of attempting to cover up what’s happened.

One reason they want access to the body, is to check for any obvious external signs of injury.

It’s not clear whether or not an autopsy has been performed yet. All we know for sure is that Navalny died suddenly in his prison. That he was there because of his opposition to Vladimir Putin. And that even after he was locked away, he spent almost a third of the time in solitary confinement, in punishment cells.

His team’s deep suspicion comes from their experience three years ago, when Navalny was poisoned with a military grade nerve agent, and the authorities stalled for a long time before allowing his family to fly him abroad for treatment and testing.

Kira Yarmysh, Alexei Navalny's spokeswoman, says the investigative committee looking into Navalny's death told his mother and lawyers the investigation has been extended.

"They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it," she said in a post on X, external.

They say that they don't know how long it will take and the cause of death remains "unknown", Yarmysh adds.

Earlier Yarmysh posted that Navalny's mother and lawyers had again been denied entry to the mortuary where they have been told his body is.

Navalny, a staunch critic of the Kremlin, was reported dead last Friday but neither his team nor his mother have been able to see his body yet.

Russian authorities say he fell unconscious and died after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" penal colony in the Arctic Circle.

As begin our coverage, let’s give you a quick reminder of what happened over the weekend:

• On Friday, prison officials in western Siberia said Alexei Navalny had died in jail
• They said he felt unwell after a walk in his Arctic penal colony and almost immediately collapsed, unconscious and couldn't be resuscitated
• Hours after the news broke, Ms Navalnaya spoke at the Security Council in Munich and blamed Russian President Putin, insisting he must be brought to justice
• President Joe Biden and EU leaders also blamed Vladimir Putin for the death of Russia's leading opposition figure
• But the Kremlin called the Western response "hysterical"
• Over the weekend demonstrations and vigils took place near Russian embassies in many countries to express outrage at Navalny’s death
• People in Moscow and other cities defied official warnings and laid floral tributes in Navalny's memory
• An independent rights monitoring group said hundreds of people were arrested across 30 Russian cities

Image source, EPA