Russian authorities hiding Navalny's body, says aide

Alexei Navalny's spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday that the Russian opposition leader had died at a remote Arctic penal colony, saying he was "murdered," but it was unclear where his body was as his family and friends searched for answers.

Navalny's death at age 47 has deprived the Russian opposition of its most well-known and inspiring politician less than a month before an election that will give President Vladimir Putin another six years in power.

A note handed to Navalny's mother stated that he died at 2:17 pm Friday, according to Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh.

Prison officials told his mother when she arrived at the penal colony Saturday that her son had perished from "sudden death syndrome," Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's AntiCorruption Foundation, wrote on X.

A prison colony employee said the body was taken to the nearby city of Salekhard as part of a post-mortem investigation, Yarmysh said. When Navalny's mother and one of the late politician's lawyers visited the morgue in Salekhard, it was closed, Navalny's team wrote on its Telegram channel. But the lawyer called the morgue and was told the body was not there, his team said.