KHARP, Russia (Reuters) -Alexei Navalny’s spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday that Russia’s most outstanding opposition chief was useless however mentioned it was unclear the place his physique had been taken as a morgue near the Arctic jail the place he died mentioned it had not acquired the physique.

Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a stroll on the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, the place he was serving a three-decade sentence, the jail service mentioned.

Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, mentioned that an official loss of life discover had been given to Navalny’s mom, Lydumila. The time of loss of life, she mentioned, was 2:17 p.m. native time (0917 GMT) on Feb. 16, in line with the discover.

“We demand that Alexei Navalny’s physique be given to his household instantly,” Yarmysh mentioned.

Till now, the jail service assertion on Friday had been the one official phrase on the loss of life of Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Yarmysh, writing on social media platform X, mentioned an worker of the jail had mentioned that Navalny’s physique had been taken to Salekhard, the city close to the jail complicated, by Russian investigators, who have been conducting “analysis”.

When Navalny’s lawyer and Navalny’s mom, Lyudmila, arrived on the morgue in Salekhard they discovered it closed and have been assured at Navalny’s physique was not there, Yarmysh mentioned.

“It’s closed, regardless of the assurances of the colony that it was working and that Navalny’s physique is there,” Yarmysh mentioned.

“The lawyer known as the cellphone quantity on the door. He was informed that he was the seventh particular person to name at present. They do not have Alexei’s physique within the morgue.”

An worker on the solely morgue in Salekhard informed Reuters that Navalny’s physique had not arrived.

“The investigative committee has 1,000,000 choices,” the worker, who didn’t give their identify, mentioned, itemizing different cities within the area – Labytnangi, Nadym and Urengoy – the place Navalny’s physique may have been despatched to.

“In Salekhard, we’ve the one morgue,” he mentioned. “I’ve not acquired anybody, no our bodies…no papers.”

Requested whether or not a physique may have arrived earlier than he began his shift at 8 a.m., the worker mentioned: “Nobody handed me something. I feel if such a physique had been delivered to us, I might have been informed instantly.”

Lyudmila Navalnaya travelled on Saturday to the jail the place her son had been held, accompanied by Navalny’s lawyer, the Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.

The IK-3 penal colony in Kharp is located within the Arctic Circle, round a one-hour drive from Salekhard, the executive capital of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

Western leaders and officers have expressed outrage over the loss of life of Navalny, which disadvantaged Russian critics of Putin of their most formidable chief.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov known as the West’s response unacceptable on Friday.

In Moscow, the loss of life left a temper of despair and apathy. The a whole bunch of flowers and candles laid within the capital on Friday to honour Navalny’s reminiscence have been largely taken away in a single day in black baggage.

A number of dozen roses and carnations remained within the softening snow on Saturday on the monument to the victims of Soviet repression, which sits within the shadow of the previous KGB headquarters on Lubyanka Sq. in central Moscow.