‘Putin will pay’: western leaders mourn Navalny death

Supporters of Alexei Navalny turned out across the world, with many quick to blame Russian leader Vladimir Putin for killing his main critic.

Protesters and mourners rally at the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC following the death of Alexei Navalny on February 16. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

The death of Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, has been condemned by world leaders who vow that President Vladimir Putin will face consequences for killing his main critic.

“We don’t know exactly what happened but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did,” US President Joe Biden said after Russian prison officials said Navalny had died at Polar Wolf penal colony in the Arctic. “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible.”

When asked about his 2021 warning of “devastating” consequences for Russia if Navalny were to die in prison, Biden said his remark was made three years ago, and Russia has since faced “a hell of a lot of consequences,” referring to major sanctions since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the Russian soldiers killed or wounded in the fighting.

“We’re contemplating what else could be done,” but in 2021 there “were no actions being taken against Russia,” he said.

“We’re looking at a whole number of options.”

During his remarks, Biden reiterated his call for the Republican-run House to approve aid for Ukraine. He also repeated his criticism of former president Donald Trump for recently warning NATO allies that he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to countries that don’t meet commitments on military spending.

Navalny’s death was announced earlier in the day by officials in the Arctic Russian prison where he was serving a 19-year prison term.

Spontaneous demonstrations took place around Europe after it was announced that the Russian dissident, 47, had “felt unwell” after a walk and could not be resuscitated. The cause of his death was still being established, said prison authorities.

Moscow warned people in Russia against taking to the streets.

But supporters paid tribute to the man widely acknowledged as Russia’s main opposition figure, even when he was behind bars.

From cities in western Europe to the capitals of former Soviet bloc states, people turned out to show their respect for Navalny, a charismatic lawyer who rallied domestic opposition to Putin.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Putin “should be accountable for what has happened” and paid tribute to Navalny’s courage.

The British government said late Friday it had summoned diplomats from the Russian embassy “to make clear that we hold the Russian authorities fully responsible” for the death.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday called the death of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny a “tragedy” and said it exposed Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a monster.”

The United Nations said it was “appalled” at the news and urged Russian authorities to “end the persecution”.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Friday accused Russia of sentencing “free spirits” to death. “In today’s Russia, free spirits are sent to the gulag and condemned to death,” Macron said, expressing his “anger and indignation” and hailing Navalny’s “courage”.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged on Friday to “never forgive”. “Alexei, we will never forget you. And we will never forgive them,” Tusk said on X (formerly Twitter), referring to the death of the Kremlin critic.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the death of top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in prison Friday was a warning to the world and called for clarification on what happened. “The death of Alexei Navalny during his detention is another sad page that acts as a warning to the international community,” Meloni said in a statement, offering her condolences and expressing hope that “this disturbing event will be fully clarified”.

Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after returning to Moscow from Berlin, where he had spent months recovering from a near-fatal novichok poisoning.

His wife, Yulia, called on the West to unite and punish the Kremlin. “I want Putin, his entire entourage, Putin’s friends, and his government to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband,” she said.

Navalny’s death is a blow for Russia’s fragmented opposition, with less significant figures having already fled or been killed or jailed. Navalny had urged supporters to vote for anyone but Putin next month.

The Kremlin on Friday blasted Western countries that pointed the finger at Moscow over the death as “absolutely unacceptable”, state media reported.

Dmitry Peskov said the reaction from Western leaders to news of the Kremlin critic’s death was “hysterical” and their statements were “absolutely unacceptable,” the TASS news agency reported.

The Times, AFP, Dow Jones Newswires