التصنيف: أخبار

The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has sparked a series of questions and accusations, including over how he died and, crucially, who, if anyone, is responsible.

Several Western leaders, as well as Mr Navalny’s wife, have pointed the finger of blame firmly in the direction of the Kremlin, with US president Joe Biden saying it is likely a consequence of something “[Vladimir] Putin and his thugs did”.

However, prison authorities in Russia, who were responsible for the jailed dissident at the time of his death, have attempted to put forward another story.

Their suggestion has been the rare “sudden death syndrome” as a possible cause of death for the 47-year-old – a vocal critic of Mr Putin.

Meanwhile, Mr Navalny’s mother, who on Saturday attended the Siberian prison in which her son died, has accused authorities of failing to release his body, raising further questions.

Here’s what we know so far:

Announcement of Navalny’s death

At 11.20am UK time on Friday, the Russian news agency Interfax, citing Russia’s Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service, reported that Mr Navalny had died while in prison.

Mr Navalny, who campaigned against official corruption and led major anti-Kremlin protests, was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism.

He was serving his sentence at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) northeast of Moscow, and within the Arctic Circle, at the time of his death.

Russia’s prison service said in a statement that Mr Navalny “felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness”.

“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but they did not yield positive results,” the statement added.

“Emergency medical doctors confirmed the death of the convict.”

‘Sudden death syndrome’

On Saturday, Mr Navalny’s spokesperson confirmed that the Kremlin critic had died and labelled his death as a “murder”.

She said Mr Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, was informed by authorities that her son had died on 16 February at 2.17pm, local time.

“We knew that there was a risk, Alexei knew it as well. And yesterday [Friday] they murdered him as they planned to do it three years ago”, said Kira Yarmysh.

Meanwhile, Ivan Zhdanov, an ally of the dissident, claimed on social media site X on Saturday that Mr Navalny’s mother and lawyer had been told by officials at the penal colony he was being held that his death was the result of “sudden death syndrome”.

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Sudden death syndrome is a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.

According to the British Heart Foundation, sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, also known as SADS, is when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly from a cardiac arrest, but the cause of the cardiac arrest cannot be found.

The charity says it usually happens when an abnormal heart rhythm, known as an arrhythmia, goes untreated, and that it can be undetectable after death because the heart will appear normal.

Body ‘not released’

Mystery now surrounds what has happened to Mr Navalny’s body, according to his allies.

According to Ms Yarmysh, Mr Navalny’s mother was told by a prison official that her son’s body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a probe into his death.

However, when they arrived at the morgue, it was closed, and workers said the body was not there.

Hours later, Ms Yarmysh said lawyers for the politician were told Mr Navalny’s body would not be handed over to his relatives until an investigation into his death had been completed.

She accused the Investigation Committee in Salekhard of “driving us around in circles and covering their tracks” as only hours before they were told the investigation had already been concluded, and nothing criminal had been established.

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What has the Kremlin said?

Mr Putin famously refused to refer to Mr Navalny – the man considered one of the greatest threats to his regime – by name.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia’s penitentiary service was making all checks regarding the death of Navalny, but that he had no information about the matter.

Mr Peskov said Mr Putin had been informed of Mr Navalny’s death.

Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign ministry told the US to show restraint and wait for the results of a forensic medical examination before accusing the Kremlin of Mr Navalny’s death, Russia state media TASS has reported.

What have world leaders said?

There has been widespread condemnation of Russian authorities from world leaders following the news of Mr Navalny’s death.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy firmly pointed the blame on Mr Putin.

“It is obvious that he was killed by Putin,” he said during a visit to the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

“Putin doesn’t care who dies – only for him to hold his position. This is why he must hold onto nothing. Putin must lose everything and be held responsible for his deeds,” he added.

US president Joe Biden said Washington did not know exactly what had happened, “but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did”.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Mr Navaly’s death was a reminder to the world what a “monster” Putin is.

“He was such a strong fighter for democracy, for freedoms for the Russian people,” Mr Trudeau said of Navalny on CBC Radio.

Mr Trudeau’s French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, expressed “anger and indignation” over Navalny’s death.

“In today’s Russia, free spirits are put in the gulag and sentenced to death,” he said.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Russia “and all those responsible” must be held accountable.

“Navalny’s death is yet another dark reminder of the rogue regime we’re dealing with,” she wrote on X.

UK’s Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “We should hold Putin accountable for this. And no one should be in any doubt about the dreadful nature of Putin’s regime in Russia after what has just happened.”

Crackdown in Russia

More than 400 people have been detained across 32 cities in Russia since the moment Mr Navalny’s death became public, according to independent human rights organisation, OVD-Info.

This included 230 people across multiple cities who were detained on Saturday.

OVD-Info said others had been detained the day before when they came to lay flowers in memory of Mr Navalny.

In Moscow, social media footage showed a large group of people chanting “shame” as police dragged a screaming woman from the crowd.

Footage and pictures from St Petersburg also showed officers ripping away placards from protesters and dragging others away from makeshift memorials to Mr Navalny.

Renowned US skier Catherine ‘Kasha’ Rigby has died in an avalanche in Kosovo, her fiancee has said.

Rigby, 54, known as Kasha, died on Tuesday at Brezovica mountain resort in Kosovo, Magnis Wofe Murray said in a message response in Facebook.

Mr Murray said on Saturday: “We were to be married in September. Now I’m widowed and devastated.”

The resort’s official account posted on Instagram a picture of rescuers on a snowy hillside near to a foil blanket, and pulling a stretcher, saying its ski centre rescue team “pulled out the victim from very dangerous part of hill when she tragically lost her life, even though they were in danger for their own life.”

It did not specify if it was Ms Rigby.

Rigby was a telemark, big mountain and expedition skier, covering first descents of some of the world’s most revered peaks and had appeared in several films and on a US reality TV show.

Considered one of the best female telemark skiers in the world, she was skiing out of the tourist lanes when an avalanche hit her, police said.

She died despite receiving immediate CPR from Mr Murray and later medical assistance.

Rigby was swept into a pine tree by a small avalanche in the “Eagle’s Nest” area, which is known for its avalanche risks, after dropping in at the top of the run, search and rescue staff said.

She was in Brezovica, 50 miles south of the Kosovan capital, Pristina, with the Tour de Piste, a project made up of expert skiers to navigate uncharted ski runs at popular locations.

In her last Instagram post, on Monday, she said they were facing “sideways rain, a big melt, and winds too high to run lifts”.

Among the tributes on her account, she was described as “inspiring”, “a shining light” and a “sweet sister”.

Her death was confirmed by the US State Department, without giving her name or more details “out of respect to the family during this difficult time”.

Born in Stowe, Vermont, in 1970, she became a telemark skier as a child.

Telemark skiing is a combination of Alpine and Nordic skiing where the athlete bends their knees every time they have to turn. The heel is attached to the front of the binding by a hinged cable.

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She competed in telemark racing and extreme-skiing competitions in the US, Canada, South America, New Zealand, Russia, Asia, Europe, India, and the Middle East.

She skied the highest peak in Siberia, Kyrgyzstan, China, and the Mongolian Five Holy Peaks and is one of only three US women to ski an 8,000m (26,2000 foot) peak in the Himalayas.

Her most recent movie appearance came in 2009’s Edge Of Never, and six years later she was a contestant on the third season of Ultimate Survival Alaska, where her team finished second.

The boss of a mining company, which runs a gold mine where nine miners are missing after a massive landslide, has been detained by authorities in Turkey.

Cengiz Demirci, Turkey director and senior vice-president of operations at the Denver-based SSR Mining, was detained on Sunday morning.

Hundreds of rescue workers are searching for those trapped under rubble after Tuesday’s disaster at Anagold Madencilik’s Copler mine in the town of Ilic, in the mountainous Erzincan province in northeast Turkey.

SSR Mining is the parent company of Anagold, which has operated the mine since 2009, where more than 650 people work.

The workers have been missing for six days after the huge landslide which, according to Turkey’s interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, involved a mound of soil extracted from the mine.

Footage showed a huge mass of earth rushing down a gully, overrunning everything in its path.

Experts have warned the site is a potential environmental hazard, because the soil was laced with dangerous substances, including cyanide, used in gold extraction.

They have said it may affect the nearby Euphrates River, which stretches across Turkey, Syria and Iraq.

Turkey’s environment ministry closed down a stream leading to the river to prevent water pollution.

Six Copler mine employees – out of eight detained earlier this week – have been formally arrested.

On Saturday, Turkey’s environment ministry said it was cancelling Anagold’s environmental permit and licence.

In 2020, the same mine was shut down following a cyanide leak into the Euphrates, roughly two miles away.

It reopened two years later after the company was fined and a clean-up operation was completed.

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Shares in SSR Mining plunged more than 50% after Tuesday’s catastrophe.

In 2022, an explosion at the Amasra coal mine on Turkey’s Black Sea coast killed 41 workers.

The country’s worst mining disaster took place in 2014 at a coal mine in the municipality of Soma, in western Turkey, where 301 people were killed.