Alexei Navalny's Wife Says Putin 'Will Be Brought to Justice'

Alexei Navalny's wife has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "will be brought to justice," after her husband was reported to have died in prison on Friday.

Yulia Navalnaya said that Putin and his allies "should be held personally responsible for all the atrocities they have committed in our country."

In an unscheduled address at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday, she said: "We cannot believe Putin and his government, they are lying constantly.

"But if it is the truth, I would like Putin and all his staff—everybody around him, his government, his friends—I want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family, and with my husband.

"They will be brought to justice. And this day will come soon."

Navalnaya added that the international community "should come together, and we should fight against this evil. We should fight this horrific regime in Russia today."

Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service released a statement on Friday saying that Navalny felt unwell after a walk, "lost consciousness almost immediately," and died shortly afterward.

"Medical workers from the institution immediately arrived and an emergency medical team was called," the statement said. "All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, which did not yield positive results. Ambulance doctors stated the death of the convict."

The Munich Security Conference—a landmark annual event which draws leaders from around the globe—was left reeling by reports of Navalny's death early on Friday. Taking to the main shortly after the first reports emerged, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris described the incident as a "further sign of Putin's brutality."

The U.S., she added, is "working to confirm" what she described as "terrible news."

"My prayers are with his family," Harris said. "Whatever story they tell, let us be clear: Russia is responsible. And we will have more to say on this later."

Earlier, Secretary of State Antony Blinken—also in Munich as President Joe Biden's administration seeks to assure allies of continued American support for Ukraine and for NATO—said that Navalny's death speaks to the Kremlin's vulnerability.

"His death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built. Russia is responsible for this," Blinken said. "We'll be talking to the many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports bear out to be true."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday that Putin had been informed of Navalny's death. Penitentiary authorities would conduct a routine investigation into the incident, he said. "Doctors should determine" the cause of death, Peskov added when asked for more details.

Update 2/16/24, 9:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include additional context on Alexei Navalny's reported death.