Closing summary
We’re closing our live coverage now of events following Friday’s death in Russia of the opposition leader and pro-democracy activist Alexei Navalny, one of Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics who was serving a lengthy prison term in an Arctic penal colony.
Russian prison authorities said Navalny, who was 47, collapsed and died suddenly after “a walk”, despite him appearing gaunt but otherwise in good health and joking during an online court appearance only hours before.
Joe Biden led a wave of global outrage, the US president blaming Navalny’s death on Putin “and his thugs”. The European Union said Navalny was “slowly murdered” by the Putin regime; and the UK government summoned Russian embassy staff and demanded a full and transparent investigation.
Meanwhile, dozens of protestors were arrested at vigils and other celebrations of Navalny’s life in numerous Russian cities, human rights observers said.
Thanks for joining us today. You can read Shaun Walker’s analysis of Alexei Navalny’s death here, and please also take a read of Pjotr Sauer’s report on the dissident’s years-long persecution here:
Updated
'Dozens arrested' in Russia protests
Human rights observers report at least 73 arrests by authorities across Russia at vigils and other commemorations.
Dmitry Anisimov, spokesperson for OVD-Info, told CNN on Friday that it is likely even more people have been detained. The group reported detentions in numerous Russian cities, including Murmansk, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod and St Petersburg.
Russian official issued a warning earlier on Friday that any demonstrations in Moscow were not authorized, and anybody taking part was liable to arrest.
Video filmed on Friday evening showed police in the capital ripping placards away from attendees, and arresting at least one person.
Here’s another look at some video we posted earlier:
Updated
Joe Biden has followed up his earlier comments from the White House with a tweet sending his sympathies to those in Alexei Navalny’s wider orbit.
“Today, I send my deepest condolences to Aleksey Navalny’s staff and supporters who will continue his work, despite Putin’s attempts to stamp out opposition. And above all, to his family who shared Aleksey’s dream of a better future for Russia,” the US president wrote.
“May God bless Aleksey Navalny.”
Today, I send my deepest condolences to Aleksey Navalny's staff and supporters who will continue his work, despite Putin’s attempts to stamp out opposition.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 16, 2024
And above all, to his family who shared Aleksey's dream of a better future for Russia.
May God bless Aleksey Navalny.
Updated
UK summons Russian embassy officials
The UK government said Friday it had “summoned the Russian Embassy”, as protestors gathered outside the building in central London to protest Alexei Navalny’s death.
In a statement reported by the Press Association, the Foreign Office said the government stood with Navalny’s “family, friends, colleagues and supporters”, and called the opposition leader “a man of great courage and iron will”:
The Russian authorities saw Mr Navalny as a threat. Many Russian citizens felt he gave them a voice.
In recent years, authorities imprisoned him on fabricated charges, poisoned him with a banned nerve agent, and sent him to an Arctic penal colony. No-one should doubt the brutal nature of the Russian system. His death must be investigated fully and transparently.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office today summoned the Russian Embassy to make clear that we hold the Russian authorities fully responsible.
Angry protesters at the embassy on Friday night called for the Kremlin to be held accountable.
Those who gathered laid floral tributes, chanted “Putin is a killer”, held banners with messages including “Don’t give up” and directed cellphone lights at the embassy’s windows.
Two senior US senators, one a Democrat and the other Republican, want part of a street near the Russian ambassador’s Washington DC residence to be renamed Alexei Navalny Way.
Dick Durbin, the Democratic party’s Senate majority whip from Illinois, joined the Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy in introducing legislation for the switch.
In a statement, Cassidy said:
Renaming the street near the Russian Ambassador’s residence Navalny Way memorializes his fight for freedom and democracy. When Russians visit our nation’s capital, they will remember his unflinching opposition to Putin’s dictatorial control.
Durbin had been a vocal advocate for Navalny’s release, as well as that of another jailed Russian opposition leader, the journalist and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year sentence, and whose whereabouts last month were unknown.
He said in the statement:
There’s more blood on Putin’s hands today. Putin has tried to silence anyone in Russia who might dissent from his strategy, anyone who might have the audacity to suggest there should be democracy or freedom in that country.
He sent one of his harshest critics, Alexei Navalny, to prison and, tragically, to his death. A fellow Russian patriot and friend of mine, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is also languishing in one of Putin’s gulags.
May Alexei’s memory and his efforts for a free Russia never be forgotten.
Updated
More politicians are speaking out following the death of the Russian opposition leader and activist Alexei Navalny.
The former US secretary of state Hilary Clinton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that Putin was responsible for Navalny’s death.
“It was so tragic to hear that he has been killed … there’s no doubt in my mind … [that] his death is a result of Putin’s brutality,” Clinton said.
“It is a tragedy for Russia that someone who was willing to stand up and speak out and really represent a different future for Russia, should be killed,” she added.
“There’s no doubt in my mind… [that] his death is a result of Putin’s brutality.” Former Secretary of State @HillaryClinton tells me that Alexey Navalny’s death “is a tragedy for Russia,” and places the blame firmly at Putin’s door. pic.twitter.com/aXLRxJfN5F
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) February 16, 2024
Clinton’s latest comments come after she posted a tribute to Navalny and shared her condolences with “Navalny’s family and friends, to his staff, and to the people of Russia”.
“Listen, I've got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up. If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong.” - Alexei Navalny
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 16, 2024
My deepest condolences to Alexei Navalny’s family and friends, to his staff, and to the people of Russia.
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White House calling for investigation into Navalny's death
The White House is calling for an investigation into Navalny’s death, Reuters reported.
A spokesperson for the White House discussed the Biden administration’s position while speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Friday.
The latest demand comes after Biden said that Navalny’s death was caused by “Putin and his thugs”.
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'Putin is a murderer', says Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russians who vote for Putin in elections next month are voting for a “murderer”, Reuters reported.
Zelenskiy’s comments come after the death of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
“The events tell [us] that Putin is a murderer and this is not rhetoric,” Zelenskiy said in a press conference in Paris on Friday, referring to Navalny’s death.
“And this is not a signal. It is absolutely obvious he is a murderer and there are no secrets [here].”
Updated
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said Russia must share details on the death of activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Reuters reported.
Macron made the latest remarks about Navalny during a joint press conference with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Paris after Zelenskiy signed a security pact with France on Friday.
During the press conference, Macron said that the death of Navalny shows the “weakness of the Kremlin and their fear of all opponents”.
Macron added that Russia has entered a new phase of aggression and must explain escalations, including reports of planned nuclear activities in space, Reuters further reported.
Updated
Summary
It’s 11pm in Moscow, 8pm in London and 3pm in Washington DC. Here’s a look at the day’s developments following the death in a Russian prison of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Joe Biden blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin “and his thugs” for Navalny’s death in an address from the White House. “Make no mistake, Putin is responsible. What has happened and evolving is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. No one should be fooled, not in Russia, not at home, not anywhere in the world, that Putin does not only target citizens of other countries … he also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people,” the US president said.
Biden also reiterated his support for Nato in the wake of Navalny’s death, and slammed former president Donald Trump for comments calling on Russia to attack any alliance member he felt wasn’t paying its dues. “This is an outrageous thing for a [former] president to say. I can’t fathom it. As long as I’m president, America stands by our sacred commitment to our Nato allies,” he said.
Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, said reports of his death are “most likely true”, adding that his attorneys and relatives would travel to Siberia on Saturday to the penal colony where he died. “Before [the attorney arrives] we do not have any verification, so we can not officially confirm or deny statements by all the Kremlin agencies that Alexei Navalny is dead. But really, we all understand full well that if [Russian press official Dmitri] Peskov is commenting and Putin and the rest - this cannot be an accident or a mistake. So, most likely it’s all true,” she said.
The European Union says it will do whatever it can to hold Russia, and Putin, accountable. Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell, the EU president and vice-president, said in a joint statement: “He was slowly murdered by President Putin and his regime, who fear nothing more than dissent from their own people. We will spare no efforts to hold the Russian political leadership and authorities to account.”
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke at the Munich Security Conference to call on the international community to come together and punish “this horrific regime” in Russia, and Putin, who she said was personally responsible for her husband’s death. “If this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family. And this day will happen very soon,” she said.
A wave of international outrage greeted the news, with the UK and US leading the condemnation. The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, said Russia, under Putin, “fabricated charges … poisoned him, sent him to an Arctic penal colony”. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in Munich, said reports of Navalny’s death “underscore the weakness and rot at the heart” of the Putin regime.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the US should show restraint before accusing the country of causing Navalny’s death. Moscow’s Tass news agency quoted the ministry as saying the US needed to wait for the results of the forensic medical examination.
Updated
Here is a selection of images from around the world sent to us over the news wires following the death in Russia of opposition leader Alexei Navalny:
Updated
Here’s Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union president, consoling Alexei Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, in Munich earlier on Friday.
Dear Yuliya, you and your family have bravely supported Alexei Navalny in his cause for so many years.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 16, 2024
Today, we also bow our heads to the entire family. pic.twitter.com/sw34KmrPQi
“Dear Yulia, you and your family have bravely supported Alexei Navalny in his cause for so many years,” von der Leyen wrote in a tweet.
“Today, we also bow our heads to the entire family.”
Updated
Russians remember Navalny with makeshift memorials
Groups of Russians laid flowers at makeshift memorials for Alexei Navalny on Friday, despite warnings from authorities that such gatherings were illegal.
Images on social media showed dozens of people queueing to place flowers at monuments to victims of political repression in the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, AFP reported.
Authorities in the Russian capital said they were aware of calls online “to take part in a mass rally in the center of Moscow” and warned people against attending.
Protests are illegal in Russia under strict anti-dissent laws, and authorities have clamped down particularly harshly on rallies in support of Navalny. Officials in Moscow were filmed stripping people of protest banners, and arresting at least one activist.
In Moscow, dozens laid red and white roses at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to victims of Soviet-era repression opposite the headquarters of Russia’s FSB security services, the former home of the feared Soviet secret police.
At least one person was detained for holding up a placard that appeared to say “murderers” on it, according to a video posted by the independent Sota Telegram channel.
A handful of people were pictured gathering to lay flowers at a bridge next to the Kremlin where the Putin critic Boris Nemtsov was killed in 2015.
Police were filmed dispersing people who had gathered in the snow at a memorial in the central city of Kazan.
Some larger demonstrations also took place in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Armenia’s capital Yerevan and the Serbian capital Belgrade. All host significant populations of Russians who fled the country following Moscow’s military offensive on Ukraine.
Updated
The news agency AFP has published a moving account of Alexei Navalny’s final weeks in a penal colony above the Arctic Circle, where he was serving a 19-year prison sentence.
Through messages passed through his lawyers, he posted regularly on social media in a characteristically optimistic and light-hearted tone, the agency said.
Here is what Navalny’s final weeks looked like, in his own words:
“Ho-ho-ho ... I am your new grandfather Frost,” he posted on 26 December, his first message from the freezing colony following several weeks when his whereabouts were unknown.
“I have a tulup, an ushanka and I will have valenki soon,” he said, referring to traditional furry Russian winter coats, hats and boots. I now live above the Arctic Circle.”
A few weeks later, he shared more details about his conditions in the new Arctic prison:
The idea that Putin was pleased [enough] that he had put me in a barracks in the Far North that they would stop throwing me in solitary confinement was … naive.
In response, prison authorities gave him seven days in solitary confinement, adding to the more than 300 days he spent alone during his three-year captivity.
In a 9 January post, he said he was thinking of a Hollywood movie star:
It has never been colder than -32C. Even in such a temperature you can walk more than half an hour, only if you have the time to grow back a nose, ears and fingers.
Today I was walking, freezing and thinking about Leonardo DiCaprio and his trick with a dead horse in The Revenant [a scene in which DiCaprio’s character crawls into an animal carcass to keep warm].
I don’t think it would work here. A dead horse would freeze to death within 15 minutes.
On 22 January, he said wardens would wake inmates at 5am to play the Russian national anthem.
In a court hearing on Thursday, one day before his death, he was filmed joking with a judge over fines he had been issued:
Your honor, I will send you my personal account number so that you, with your huge salary as a federal judge, can send me money. I am running out of cash, and thanks to your decisions, it will run out even faster. So send it!
His final post, on Valentine’s Day, was dedicated to his wife, Yulia:
Baby, you and I have everything, just like in the song: cities, airfield lights, blue snowstorms and thousands of kilometers between us. But I feel that you are near me every second, and I love you more and more.
Updated
Here’s a video of Joe Biden addressing reporters at the White House on Friday, remarks in which the US president blamed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the death of dissident Alexei Navalny in bleak prison camp in the Arctic.
Biden said Navalny “bravely stood up to the corruption and violence, all the bad things the Putin government was doing”.
Updated
Here’s some more of what Joe Biden had to say about Alexei Navalny’s death, from the US president’s address at the White House that has now concluded:
He bravely stood up to the corruption, the violence, all the bad things the Putin government was doing. In response, Putin had him poisoned. He had him arrested and prosecuted for fabricated crimes.
He sent him to prison, he was held in isolation. Even all that didn’t stop him from calling out the lies. Even in prison he was a powerful voice for the truth.
He could have lived safely in exile after the assassination attempt on him in 2020, which nearly killed him I might add. He was traveling outside the country at the time. Instead, he returned to Russia, knowing he might be imprisoned.
During questions following his address, Biden was asked what consequences Russia might face:
They’ve [already] faced a hell of a lot of consequences, and lost or had wounded over 350,000 Russian soldiers [in Ukraine]. They’ve been subjected to great sanctions across the board.
And we’re contemplating what else can be done … we’re looking at a whole number of options.
Updated
Biden: US stands by 'sacred commitment' to Nato in wake of Navalny death
Joe Biden cautioned that the US was still awaiting formal confirmation of Alexei Navalny’s death, but that there was little reason to doubt the reported death of one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics was not true.
The US president also used Friday’s White House address to prod lawmakers in Washington DC, who have been stalling on a funding package to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
This tragedy reminds us of the stakes in this moment to provide the funding so Ukraine can keep defending itself against Putin’s vicious onslaught and war crimes.
You know, there was a bipartisan Senate vote that passed overwhelmingly in the United States Senate to fund Ukraine. History is watching. History is watching the House of Representatives.
The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten. It’s true down the pages of history, it really is. It’s consequential. The clock is ticking. And this has to happen. We have to help now.
Biden took a swipe at the former president Donald Trump, who caused a furore in a campaign speech at the weekend when he said he would encourage Russia to attack Nato countries that weren’t contributing enough financially to support the alliance.
We have to realize what we’re dealing with. All of us should reject the dangerous statements made by the previous president that invited Russia to invade our Nato allies if they weren’t paying up.
He said if an ally did not pay their dues, he encouraged Russia to, quote, ‘do whatever the hell they want’.
I guess I should clear my mind a little bit and not say what I’m really thinking, but let me be clear. This is an outrageous thing for a [former] president to say. I can’t fathom it.
As long as I’m president, America stands by our sacred commitment to our Nato allies.
Updated
Joe Biden paid tribute to Alexei Navalny as he continued his remarks from the West Wing of the White House:
People across Russia and around the world are mourning Navalny today.
He was so many things that Putin was not. He was brave. He was principled … dedicated to building a Russia where a rule of law existed and was applied everywhere, and to an evolving belief that Russia, as he knew it, was a cause worth fighting for, and obviously even dying for.
Asked directly if he thought Navalny’s death was an “assassination”, the US president replied:
There is no doubt that the death of Navalny is a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did.
Updated
Biden says Putin and 'his thugs' responsible for Navalny's death
Joe Biden says Vladimir Putin is wholly responsible for the death in a Russian jail of Alexei Navalny.
Speaking at the White House, in his first comments following news that one of the Russian leader’s most vocal critics was dead, the US president said “like millions of people around the world”, he was “literally not surprised and outraged by the reported death of Alexei Navalny”
Make no mistake. Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.
Putin is responsible. What has happened and evolving is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. No one should be fooled, not in Russia, not at home, not anywhere in the world [that] Putin does not only target citizens of other countries, as we’ve seen in what’s going on in Ukraine right now, he also inflicts terrible crimes on his own people.
In questions from reporters following his address, Biden said the US was still awaiting formal confirmation of the Russian opposition leader’s death, but had no reason to doubt it.
Asked if he thought it was “an assassination”, Biden said:
The answer is we don’t know exactly what happened. But there is no doubt that the death of Navalny is a consequence of something Putin and his thugs did.
Updated
Navalny spokesperson: death report 'most likely true'
A spokesperson for Alexei Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, said on Friday afternoon that reports of his death in a Russian prison are “most likely true”.
Yarmysh was speaking on her YouTube channel. She said Navalny’s relatives and lawyers will travel early on Saturday to the Siberian penal colony where he was in detention:
Before [the attorney arrives] we do not have any verification, so we can not officially confirm or deny statements by all the Kremlin agencies that Alexei Navalny is dead.
But really, we all understand full well that if [Russian press official Dmitri] Peskov is commenting and Putin and the rest - this cannot be an accident or a mistake. So, most likely it’s all true.
Updated
The jailed former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili has expressed his sorrow at Alexei Navalny’s death and called for the release of other political prisoners in Russia.
In a statement issued to reporters in Brussels, he said:
Alexei Navalny was a great hero of the resistance against the Putin regime. His death is a great tragedy but was seen coming for some time.
Alexei and I had our disagreements in the past but I admired his courage and huge talent, and greatly appreciated him expressing his solidarity with me over my mistreatment in prison at the hands of the Putin-backed regime of the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.
I appeal now to the West and participants of the Munich Security Conference to try to save at least Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin, and other political prisoners of the Russian regime.
Also, try to save me. I am also the personal prisoner of Vladimir Putin and I have been poisoned in captivity while the world has looked on. Am I the next on Putin’s death row?
Saakashvili, leader of the Georgia from 2004 to 2013, was jailed after returning from exile on charges that human rights groups denounced as politically motivated.
Updated
EU: Navalny 'slowly murdered' by Putin regime
The European Union says it will do whatever it can to hold Russia, and its president, Vladimir Putin, accountable for the death of Alexei Navalny, the EU president, Ursula von der Leyen, and vice-president, Josep Borrell, said in a joint statement:
He was slowly murdered by President Putin and his regime, who fear nothing more than dissent from their own people.
We will spare no efforts to hold the Russian political leadership and authorities to account.
The two commission leaders demanded Russia establish all facts around Navalny’s death and “immediately release all other political prisoners”, according to the Associated Press.
Updated
My colleague Andrew Roth has taken a look at many mysterious, violent and unsolved deaths of critics of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, over the years:
Vladimir Putin’s foes and critics have often met with violent deaths at the very peak of their conflicts with the Kremlin leader during his nearly quarter-century in power.
Alexei Navalny’s death, which many foreign leaders and supporters say is murder, came after he was banished to an Arctic Circle prison, where he was regularly thrown in a punishment cell, exposed to the elements and significantly malnourished. Western officials including the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and vice-president, Kamala Harris, have directly blamed the Kremlin for his death.
Putin’s other foes have been targeted in diverse ways: shootings, poisonings and even a plane crash. Many of the deaths are never solved and remain listed as accidents and suicides, leaving open the question of just how many of his enemies Putin has dispatched with over the years.
Read the full story:
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Biden to speak soon on Navalny death
The White House says Joe Biden will make remarks about Alexei Navalny’s death at 12pm ET (5pm GMT).
The US president, who had been pressing lawmakers in Washington DC to approve funding for Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion, is expected to be highly critical of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.
Earlier today, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, spoke in Germany about the “brutality” of Putin’s regime.
We’ll bring you Biden’s comments as he makes them.
Updated
Impromptu vigils have been announced by pro-democracy Russian organizations across cities in Europe and the US.
In Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, a crowd was seen holding candles or their mobile phone torches and shouting “Navalny, Navalny!”
Footage on social media also showed people laying flowers next to a spontaneous memorial for Navalny in the Russian city of Kazan.
In Moscow, the European Union’s ambassador to Russia, Roland Galharague, laid flowers at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument dedicated to the victims of political repressions.
EU Ambassador to Russia Roland Galharague laid flowers at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument in Moscow to the victims of political repression, in memory of Alexei Navalny
— Mediazona English (@mediazona_en) February 16, 2024
Photo: @novayagazeta_en pic.twitter.com/HlDH9X0RSs
World leaders condemn death of Alexei Navalny in Russian prison
Here’s a quick round-up of the global outrage that greeted Friday’s news of the death of Alexei Navalny in jail in Russia:
The United States vice-president, Kamala Harris, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, said Navalny’s death was “terrible news”:
My prayers are with his family, including his wife, Yulia, who is with us today. If confirmed, this would be a further sign of Putin’s brutality. Whatever story they tell, let us be clear: Russia is responsible.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, also in Munich, echoed her condemnation:
Our hearts go out to his wife and his family. Beyond that, 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.
We’ll be talking to the many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports bear out to be true.
Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, said it was a “huge tragedy”, saying Navalny had demonstrated “incredible courage” in his life.
This is terrible news. As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 16, 2024
My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy. https://t.co/AQvQQW5GBh
Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, praised Navalny on CBC Radio:
He was such a strong fighter for democracy, for freedoms for the Russian people. It really shows the extent to which Putin will crack down on anyone who is fighting for freedom for the Russian people. It is a tragedy and it’s something that has the entire world being reminded of exactly what a monster Putin is.
The UN human rights office called on Russia for a credible investigation. A spokesperson, Liz Throssell, said:
If someone dies in the custody of the state, the presumption is that the state is responsible – a responsibility that can only be rebutted through an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body.
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, posted a simple but strong message on X. He said Navalny would never be forgotten, adding: “And we will never forgive them.”
Alexey, we will never forget you. And we will never forgive them.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) February 16, 2024
Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of Nato, told reporters Russia had “seriuous questions” to answer:
I am deeply saddened and concerned about reports coming from Russia that Alexei Navalny is dead. All the facts have to be established and Russia has serious questions to answer.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, which is currently defending itself against a Russian invasion, said it was “obvious” that Putin was directly behind the death of Navalny. Speaking in Germany, he said the Russian president did not care who died, so long as his position at the head of the state was secure.
The Russian newspaper editor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov told Reuters that Navalny’s death was “murder”, and said that he believed prison conditions had led to his demise.
Updated
Summary
If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of what we know so far:
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in jail aged 47, the country’s prison service has said, in what supporters and western officials have called a political assassination attributable to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. You can read our news story here.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke at the Munich Security Conference to call on the international community to come together and punish “this horrific regime” in Russia, and Putin, who she said was personally responsible for her husband’s death. “If this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family. And this day will happen very soon,” she said.
A wave of international outrage greeted the news, with the UK and US leading the condemnation. The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, said Russia, under Putin, “fabricated charges … poisoned him, sent him to an Arctic penal colony”. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in Munich, said reports of Navalny’s death “underscore the weakness and rot at the heart” of the Putin regime.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the US should show restraint before accusing the country of Navalny’s death. Moscow’s Tass news agency quoted the ministry as saying the US needed to wait for the results of the forensic medical examination.
We’ll have plenty more news and reaction to come, including Joe Biden’s comments shortly.
I’m Richard Luscombe in the US, and I’ll be guiding you through the next few hours as developments unfold.
Updated
Here’s how Russian state TV announced Alexei Navalny’s death.
TV Channel 1 said he died after feeling unwell following a walk.
Updated
Top Republican says he hopes Navalny's death will send message about 'who Mr Putin really is'
Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House foreign affairs committee, said of Navalny:
I hope that out of his death will come something to send a message to the world and to the American people about who Mr Putin really is - not to have this charm offensive that Mr Putin is somehow a misunderstood man. His intentions are very clear to me.
As a traditional national security conservative, McCaul is at odds with Maga Republicans who are loyal to Donald Trump, a Putin admirer, and who follow media figures like Tucker Carlson, who this week did a softball interview with Putin and broadcast from Russian supermarkets giving a rosy depiction of Russian life.
McCaul was sceptical on whether the dissident’s death would bring any closer a vote on a supplemental budget bill that would resume US arms supplies to Ukraine, currently being held up by the Republican leadership.
Asked whether Republican members of congress might be moved to change their minds on the issue by Navalny’s death in prison, he replied:
Well, to the extent members of Congress know who he is.
Updated
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said the death of Alexei Navalny reminds the world what a “monster” Vladimir Putin is.
He told CBC Radio:
He was such a strong fighter for democracy, for freedoms for the Russian people.
It really shows the extent to which Putin... will crack down on anyone who is fighting for freedom for the Russian people.
It is a tragedy and it’s something that has the entire world being reminded of exactly what a monster Putin is.
The UN human rights office urged the Russian authorities to ensure that a credible investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison was carried out.
Spokesperson Liz Throssell said:
If someone dies in the custody of the state, the presumption is that the state is responsible – a responsibility that can only be rebutted through an impartial, thorough and transparent investigation carried out by an independent body.
We urge the Russian authorities to ensure such a credible investigation is carried out.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a procedural probe into the death, the Investigative Committee said.
Throssell said:
We call on the Russian authorities to end the persecution of politicians, human rights defenders and journalists, among others.
All those who are held or have been sentenced to various prison terms in relation to the legitimate exercise of their rights, including the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, should be immediately released and all charges against them.
Updated
Scores of attacks, including assassinations, abductions and assaults, were perpetrated by 25 governments last year against people outside their borders, new analysis reveals.
Data from the Washington DC-based pro-democracy organisation Freedom House reveals that the governments of Russia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Turkmenistan and China were the biggest five perpetrators of transnational repression in 2023.
Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, said: “The phenomenon of authoritarians striking down dissidents who have sought refuge abroad is not going away. Democracies will have to do more, and soon, to protect their sovereignty and their fundamental values.”
The first known cases of transnational repression sanctioned by the governments of Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Yemen also took place last year.
Forty-four countries – more than a fifth of the world’s national governments – have reached beyond their borders over the past decade in an attempt to forcibly silence exiled political activists, journalists, former regime insiders and members of ethnic or religious minorities.
The analysis reveals that, in total, 125 physical attacks – which also included detentions and unlawful deportation – were ordered by states against individuals based abroad during 2023.
The Russian government was responsible for at least 18 documented incidents of transnational repression last year. The Kremlin targeted anti-war activists and other Russian defectors in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan among others, with victims facing renditions or deportation.
Read more here:
Updated
There has been some reactions from US politicians although we still haven’t heard from Joe Biden.
House foreign affairs committee chairman Michael McCaul issued the following statement regarding reports on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
He said:
If confirmed, the death of Alexei Navalny is a tragedy. He was a voice for a better Russia amid the corruption and brutality of Putin’s genocidal regime.
The Kremlin must be held to account for this outrage.
Senator Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, issued a statement from the Munich Security Conference.
He said Navalny’s death is “not just a tragedy for the Russia people, but a profound loss felt across the international community”.
He said he was “a beacon of hope for millions” inspiring those who “bravely fight for freedom in the face of tyranny”.
He said:
While the loss of Navalny is a stunning blow for the world, his legacy will undoubtedly endure as a symbol of resilience, courage, and hope.
The need for the international community to stand in solidarity with those who fight for democracy and human rights could not be more urgent.
As we mourn this loss, we cannot shrink from our collective responsibility to hold accountable those who seek to silence dissent through violence and repression.
In Alexei Navalny’s memory, let us today recommit ourselves to the pursuit of a world where freedom, justice, and human dignity prevail.
Senator Thom Tillis, who is one of the 22 Republicans who voted to approve aid to Ukraine, has also released a statement and has not minced words about Republicans who kowtow to the Kremlin.
He said:
Navalny laid down his life fighting for the freedom of the country he loved.
Putin is a murderous, paranoid dictator. History will not be kind to those in America who make apologies for Putin and praise Russian autocracy.
Nor will history be kind to America’s leaders who stay silent because they fear backlash from online pundits.
Updated
Navalny's wife Yulia says Putin 'will be punished'
Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s wife, took the stage at the Munich Security Conference. Here’s a longer transcript of what she said.
She said:
I thought, ‘should I stand here before you or should I go back to my children’? And then I thought, ‘what would have Alexei done in my place’? And I’m sure that he would have been standing here on this stage.
I’m don’t know should believe the terrible news we get, the news we get only from the official media, because for many years – and you know all this – we have been in this situation, we cannot believe Putin and his government, they are lying constantly.
She added:
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.
And would like to call upon all the international community, all the people in the world, we should come together and we should fight against this evil.
We should fight this horrific regime in Russia today. This regime and Vladimir Putin should be personally held responsible for all the atrocities they have committed in our country the last year.
Navalnaya then got a standing ovation from the audience of leaders and senior officials.
Updated
Russia calls on US to 'show restraint' over Navalny’s death
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the United States should show restraint before accusing Russia of Alexei Navalny’s death, TASS reported.
The ministry said the US should wait for the results of the forensic medical examination.
In his final appearance before his death, Alexei Navalny looked healthy during a video-link court appearance.
Speaking from prison, he complained about the frequent fines he had to pay and asked the judge to send him some money ‘as my own is running out thanks to your decisions’.
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk has posted a simple but strong message on X.
He said that Alexei Navalny would never be forgotten, adding: “And we will never forgive them.”
Alexey, we will never forget you. And we will never forgive them.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) February 16, 2024
Updated
Enrique Mora Benavente, a Spanish diplomat who serves as the chief of staff of Josep Borrell, has offered his condolences to Alexei Navalny’s family.
He told reporters in Brussels:
He was a brave human being. He gave hope to all democrats around the world. He was slowly killed by Vladimir Putin.
Shocked by media reports of the death of Alexey Navalny, a very brave man who dedicated his life to save the honour of Russia, giving hope to democrats & civil society.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 16, 2024
While awaiting further information, let’s be clear: this is Putin’s sole responsibility. https://t.co/zabZOOknQD
Updated
Navalny’s wife speaks at the Munich Security Conference
Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia, has just spoken at the Munich Security Conference.
She movingly spoke about the decision she has to take about whether to stay in Munich and speak on stage or go back immediately to her children. She decided to do what her husband would have done and speak at the conference.
She said she didn’t know if we should believe the terrible news but said Vladimir Putin is “personally liable for all the horrible things they are doing to my country”.
She said that the news had only come from Russian government sources, adding: “for many years we cannot trust Putin and the Putin government. They always lie.”
But she said:
If this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family.
And this day will happen very soon.
She called on the international community to come together and punish “this horrific regime” in Russia.
Updated
Canadian foreign minister Mélanie Joly has described reports of Alexei Navalny’s death as a “painful reminder of Putin’s continued oppressive regime”.
Alexei Navalny gave his freedom in the hopes of a better, more democratic future for the Russian people. Reports of his death are a painful reminder of Putin’s continued oppressive regime.
— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) February 16, 2024
My thoughts are with his wife,Yulia, his family, and his loved ones.
UK and US hit out at Putin over Navalny's death
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said Vladimir Putin “should be accountable” for Alexei Navalny’s death – saying the Russia state under Putin “fabricated charges […] poisoned him, sent him to an Arctic penal colony”
Navalny fought bravely against corruption.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) February 16, 2024
Putin’s Russia fabricated charges against him, poisoned him, sent him to an arctic penal colony & now he has tragically died.
Putin should be accountable for what has happened - no one should doubt the dreadful nature of his regime.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, earlier said (12.19 GMT) Navalny had demonstrated “incredible courage”.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has meanwhile said that reports of Alexei Navalny’s death “underscore the weakness and rot at the heart” of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
First and foremost, if these reports are accurate, our hearts go out to his wife and his family. Beyond that, 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.
We’ll be talking to the many other countries concerned about Alexei Navalny, especially if these reports bear out to be true.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Kamala Harris, the US vice-president, said:
We’ve all just received reports that Alexei Navalny has died in Russia. This is of course terrible news, which we are working to confirm. My prayers are with his family, including his wife, Yulia, who is with us today. And if confirmed, this would be a further sign of Putin’s brutality. Whatever story they tell, let us be clear: Russia is responsible and we will have more to say about this later.
Updated
Alexei Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, has said her son was “alive, healthy and happy” when she last saw him on Monday.
In a post on Facebook reported by Novaya Gazeta, the independent Russian newspaper published in Latvia since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she wrote:
I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison on the 12th, in a meeting. He was alive, healthy and happy.
Updated
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has posted to social media that Alexei Navalny paid for his bravery with his life.
I am deeply saddened by the death of Alexei Navalny. He stood up for democracy and freedom in Russia - and apparently paid for his courage with his life. This terrible news shows once again how Russia has changed and what kind of regime is in power in Moscow.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) February 16, 2024
Ukraine’s military said that its withdrawal from the southeastern part of the embattled town of Avdiivka would give no strategic advantage to Russian troops.
The decision to move Ukrainian defenders was motivated by a desire to minimise losses and will allow for an improved “operational situation” in the town, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, the commander of Ukraine’s southeastern sector, said on the Telegram messenging app.
Alexei Navalny seemed to be in good spirits during a court hearing just yesterday, where he was filmed laughing and joking.
Yesterday Navalny looked to be fine during a court hearing where he spoke via video link from his penal colony pic.twitter.com/e8HoAnWsQB
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) February 16, 2024
The Putin critic made a remote appearance from Kharp at a court in Kovrov.
Russian medics spent more than half an hour trying to resuscitate jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny before he died on Friday, Interfax reported, citing the local hospital, Reuters reports.
The United States is actively seeking confirmation of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s reported death, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told National Public Radio on Friday.
Sullivan said in an interview:
If it’s confirmed, it is a terrible tragedy.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny had died because he was a symbol for a free and democratic Russia, implying that he had been deliberately killed, a sentiment echoed by the finance minister.
Baerbock wrote on X:
Like no one else, Alexei Navalny was a symbol for a free and democratic Russia.
That is precisely the reason he had to die.
Finance minister Christian Lindner said:
Alexey Navalny fought for a democratic Russia.
For that, Putin tortured him to death.
Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin wrote in his channel on the Telegram messaging app that he was praying that information about the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny would prove untrue.
Nadezhdin wrote:
Navalny is one of the most talented and courageous people in Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said it is “obvious” that Vladimir Putin was directly behind the death of Alexei Navalny.
Speaking in Germany, the Ukrainian leader said the Russian president does not care who dies so long as his position at the head of the state is secure.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that what she called Western accusations about the death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny were “self-revealing”.
In a statement posted on the messenger app Telegram, Zakharova said that forensic results on Navalny’s death were still unavailable but that the West had already reached its own conclusions, Reuters reports.
Zakharova did not clarify which accusations she was referring to.
Here’s some reaction from world leaders on the death of Vladimir Putin’s most vociferous critic, Alexei Navalny.
The European Union holds Russia responsible for the death of Navalny, EU council president Charles Michel said.
Michel said in a post on X:
Alexei Navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy.
For his ideals, he made the ultimate sacrifice. The EU holds the Russian regime solely responsible for this tragic death.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday he was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by the reports on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Stoltenberg said:
We need to establish all the facts, and Russia needs to answer all the serious questions about the circumstances of his death.
Rishi Sunak has said it was “terrible news” and that Navalny “demonstrated incredible courage”.
This is terrible news. As the fiercest advocate for Russian democracy, Alexei Navalny demonstrated incredible courage throughout his life.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 16, 2024
My thoughts are with his wife and the people of Russia, for whom this is a huge tragedy. https://t.co/AQvQQW5GBh
Evika Siliņa, prime minister of Latvia, accused Putin’s regime of torturing to death “one of the last symbols of democracy in Russia”.
Sincere condolences to the family of @navalny, and to all who cherish freedom. Putin’s regime imprisoned and has now tortured to death one of the last symbols of democracy in Russia. I call on Russia to cease repressing political opposition and release all political prisoners.
— Evika Siliņa 🇱🇻🇺🇦 (@EvikaSilina) February 16, 2024
Sweden’s minister of foreign affairs said that if the news was true, it was another “terrible crime” by Putin’s regime.
Dreadful news about Alexei Navalny @navalny If the report about his death in Russian prison is true it represents another terrible crime by Putin’s regime.
— Tobias Billström (@TobiasBillstrom) February 16, 2024
The ruthlessness against Navalny shows again why it is necessary to continue to fight against authoritarianism.…
The minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic said Russia has “turned into a violent state that kills people who dream of a better future”.
It’s still the case that just as Russia treats its foreign policy, it treats its citizens. It has turned into a violent state that kills people who dream of a better future, like Nemtsov or now Navalny - imprisoned and tortured to death for standing up to Putin. Rest in peace.
— Jan Lipavský (@JanLipavsky) February 16, 2024
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on X on Friday that Navalny died after “after years of persecution in prison”.
Tajani wrote:
I am very touched by the death of Alexey Navalny after years of persecution in prison, we are close to his family and the Russian people.
Updated
Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics said on X/Twitter that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”.
He wrote:
Whatever your thoughts about Alexei Navalny as the politician, he was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin.
That’s a fact and that is something one should know about the true nature of Russia’s current regime.
Whatever your thoughts about Alexey @Navalny as the politician, he was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin. That’s a fact and that is something one should know about the true nature of Russia’s current regime. My condolences to the family and friends.
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) February 16, 2024
Updated
Navalny death 'murder', says Nobel winner
Russian newspaper editor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov told Reuters today the death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny was “murder”, and said that he believed prison conditions had led to his demise.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a procedural probe into the death, the Investigative Committee said.
Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff, said that the statement from the prison service could be interpreted as a “confession” that they deliberately killed Navalny, although his team is yet to verify the information.
Russian authorities publish a confession that they killed Alexey Navalny in prison.
— Leonid Volkov (@leonidvolkov) February 16, 2024
We do not have any way to confirm it or to prove this isn’t true.
Navalny’s lawyer is on the way to Harp.
Updated
Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said they had no information about the death of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
She said:
We have no confirmation of this yet.Alexei’s lawyer is now flying to Kharp colony.
As soon as we have some information, we will report it.
Navalny’s lawyer Leonid Solovyov told the Novaya Gazeta outlet he could not comment on the reports that Navalny died in prison.
Solovyov said that a lawyer visited Navalny on Wednesday.
“Everything was normal then,” the lawyer said.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin has been told of the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, state news agency TASS reported on Friday.
Updated
Russia’s Federal Prison Service said in a statement that Alexei Navalny felt unwell after a walk this morning and lost consciousness.
An ambulance arrived to try to rehabilitate him, but he died.
There was no immediate confirmation of Navalny’s death from his team, AFP reports.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia’s penitentiary service was making all checks regarding the death of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but that he had no information about the matter, Reuters reports.
Alexei Navalny dies in prison
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in jail, the country’s prison service has said, in what is likely to be seen as a political assassination attributable to Vladimir Putin.
Navalny, 47, one of Putin’s most visible and persistent critics, was being held in a jail about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”.
In early December he had disappeared from a prison in the Vladimir region, where he was serving a 30-year sentence on extremism and fraud charges that he had called political retribution for leading the anti-Kremlin opposition of the 2010s. He did not expect to be released during Putin’s lifetime.
A former nationalist politician, Navalny helped foment the 2011-12 protests in Russia by campaigning against election fraud and government corruption, investigating Putin’s inner circle and sharing the findings in slick videos that garnered hundreds of millions of views.
The high-water mark in his political career came in 2013, when he won 27% of the vote in a Moscow mayoral contest that few believed was free or fair. He remained a thorn in the side of the Kremlin for years, identifying a palace built on the Black Sea for Putin’s personal use, mansions and yachts used by the ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, and a sex worker who linked a top foreign policy official with a well-known oligarch.
In 2020, Navalny fell into a coma after a suspected poisoning using novichok by Russia’s FSB security service and was evacuated to Germany for treatment. He recovered and returned to Russia in January 2021, where he was arrested on a parole violation charge and sentenced to his first of several jail terms that would total more than 30 years behind bars.
Putin has recently launched a presidential campaign for his fifth term in office. He is already the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin and could surpass him if he runs again for office in 2030, a possibility since he had the constitutional rules on term limits rewritten in 2020.
More details soon from my colleagues Helen Sullivan and Andrew Roth.
Updated
Europeans must not give in to war “fatigue” in Ukraine as a Russian victory would mean a greater threat to other nations on the continent, French foreign minister Stephane Sejourne said this morning
“We must not give in to the temptation of fatigue or indifference,” Sejourne said in an op-ed in French daily Le Monde published ahead of a visit to Paris by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, AFP reports.
He added:
Russia would not be content with Ukraine.
Russia wants to destroy the European security order and reshape our continent to suit its own interests.
Far from bringing us peace, Moscow’s victory would only incite Vladimir Putin to pursue his expansionist pipe dream by using the same means, force, and the same pretext, the fight against a ’collective West’ that he deems depraved and decadent.
Two years into Russia’s war against Ukraine, several European leaders have warned against European indifference. Donald Trump’s possible return to the US presidency has heightened fears that this could undermine Western solidarity against Moscow’s invasion.
Kyiv’s troops, meanwhile, face an increasingly difficult situation on the ground because of ammunition shortages amid uncertainty over the future of US and European military aid.
Sejourne said Europeans were already “suffering,” pointing to Moscow’s attempts to divide the continent and sow disinformation.
But it is imperative to continue to support Ukraine “at all costs,” France’s top diplomat said, stressing Russia’s possible victory in Ukraine would affect everything from agriculture to nuclear security and Europe’s way of life.
Sejourne wrote:
If Russia took over Ukrainian agriculture, it would hold 30 percent of the world’s wheat exports and attack our own farmers on the markets.
Today’s efforts on behalf of Ukraine are nothing compared with those we would have to deploy against a Russia that felt victorious.
Europe is a project for peace, and the future of Europe is at stake in Ukraine.
Ukraine said it was sending more reinforcements to the frontline city of Avdiivka, a main target for Moscow ahead of the second anniversary of the Russian invasion, AFP reports.
Facing a shortage of ammunition and outnumbered on the battlefield, Ukraine may be forced to withdraw from the eastern town, which has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance against the Russian attack.
The fighting raged as president Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Berlin to rally Western support. He will later travel to Paris and address the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Russia’s forces launched a costly bid to seize Avdiivka last fall, resulting in massive damage to the town and heavy casualties, reminiscent of the battle for Bakhmut.
“It was difficult there (in Bakhmut) but now it is extremely difficult,” said the spokesman of the 3rd Assault Brigade, Oleksandr Borodin, adding the Avdiivka fight was comparatively “more difficult” because Russian forces are now better equipped.
A Russian victory in Avdiivka would be the most significant territorial gain for Moscow since it seized Bakhmut last May after months of bloody fighting.
Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, a Ukrainian general in the east, said on social media:
Fierce battles are taking place within the city.
New positions have been prepared and powerful fortifications continue to be prepared, taking into account all possible scenarios.
He called the situation in Avdiivka “difficult but controlled” and said commanders have been tasked to “stabilise the situation.”
Updated
David Cameron has arrived at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said today that several “saboteurs”, including Ukrainian and Belarusian nationals, had been detained earlier this morning on the border of the two countries in a “counter-terrorist operation,” Reuters reports.
Speaking at an event in Minsk, Lukashenko said that the detainees had “crawled across our border and transported explosives to commit sabotage primarily in Russia and in Belarus.”
He did not say how many had been detained.
Later in his speech, Lukashenko said that similar groups were detained “two or three times a week”.
Belarus, a close Russian ally, has provided logistical support to Moscow throughout its military campaign in Ukraine.
Updated
Here are some pictures from the wires of Volodymyr Zelenskiy arriving in Germany and being received by German chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Zelenskiy arrives in Germany for European visit
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Germany this morning for a working visit and as part of a tour to drum up vital military assistance and sign bilateral security commitments as the war with Russia nears its third year.
After landing in Germany, Ukraine’s president posted an image to his Telegram account alongside Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin and a German foreign ministry official, Reuters reports.
In the post, he said:
I am starting two important days. Meetings with partners in Germany and France, new agreements, and the Munich Security Conference.
A new security architecture for Ukraine, as well as new opportunities. We are making every effort to end the war as soon as possible on fair Ukrainian terms and ensure a lasting peace.
The trip comes as Kyiv’s troops are trying to hold back Russian forces closing in on the eastern town of Avdiivka. Ukraine faces a shortage of manpower and ammunition stockpiles, while US military aid has been delayed for months.
It will mark Zelenskiy’s first foreign trip since he replaced his popular army chief and reshuffled his military command, a big gamble at a difficult juncture in the war that he said was needed to face shifting battlefield challenges.
Germany and France are expected to sign bilateral agreements on security commitments with Ukraine today as Zelenskiy visits their respective capitals.
The details of the agreements to be signed with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz are not yet known, but Kyiv has said it wants to use the first deal signed with Britain in January as a framework.
He is also expected to attend the three day Munich Security Conference.
Updated
Ursula von der Leyen is pushing the boundaries of the EU urging member states to consider a collective defence role, something never imagined when the first European community was established more than 50 years ago
Anthony Blinken, US vice president Kamala Harris and homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas along with EU leaders von der Leyen, Olaf Scholz descend on Munich today for the three day security conference to which Volodomyr Zelenskiy is also expected to attend.
Ahead of the conference Zelenskiy is expected to sign bi-lateral security deals with France and Germany while the European Commission president will call for potential subsidies or financial incentives for EU arms manufacturers to ramp up production.
In an interview in the Financial Times Von der Leyen warned:
We have to spend more, we have to spend better, we have to spend European.
The EU has struggled to persuade domestic producers to ramp up artillery production to meet its own targets of delivering 1m rounds of ammunition to Ukraine by spring.
Leaders recently admitted they are now at 50% of the target and hope to meet the 1m mark by the end of this year.
But the prospect of Donald Trump, who is threatening to refuse to defend any NATO ally that does not pay enough into the defence alliance, winning the US election in November has given a fresh urgency to EU’s debate about its security.
Manufacturers are said to be nervous that EU countries will not be long term customers and prefer to stick to the guaranteed orders from large defence buyers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and India.
But the prospect of the EU subsidising defence will be a sea change of a new order for the trade bloc which has up to the Ukraine war has not involved itself in military operations bar peace keeping missions.
Opening summary
Good morning and welcome to the Ukraine live blog. We start with news that the US has warned that Russia could seize Ukraine’s key eastern town of Avdiivka.
Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from some positions in Avdiivka, as a grinding Russian assault on the town continues amid fears that it is a matter of time before Russian forces take over.
“Avdiivka is at risk of falling into Russian control,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding that Ukraine had a shortage of ammunition.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to do everything to “save as many Ukrainian lives as possible”.
Capturing Avdiivka is key to Russia’s aim of securing full control of the two provinces that make up the industrial Donbas region, and could hand President Vladimir Putin a battlefield victory to hold up to voters as he seeks re-election next month, Reuters reports.
In other news:
US congressional delaying of fresh military aid for Ukraine is already having an impact on the battlefield, Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has warned at a defence ministers’ meeting. Jens Stoltenberg said he still believed Congress would eventually approve the stalled $60bn (£50bn) package.
Ukraine has said its economy should be rebuilt using frozen Russian assets after a report showed the cost of reconstruction increasing to almost $500bn. An estimated $300bn of Russian assets have been frozen since the war started. The EU, US and western allies are debating how they can be used to benefit Ukraine.
On Thursday, Ukraine said four people were killed in Kherson and Kharkiv following Russian air and missile attacks; while officials in the Russian border city of Belgorod said a Ukrainian rocket strike killed at least seven people.
France and Ukraine are due on Friday to sign a bilateral agreement on security. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is set to visit France and Germany.
