Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said in a video footage released on Wednesday (September 17) that two foreign laboratories had carried out tests on biological samples obtained from her husband that showed he was poisoned.

Navalny died suddenly at the age of 47 on February 16, 2024, in a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle, depriving the Russian opposition of its most popular leader.

Navalnaya said that biological material from Navalny was smuggled abroad in 2024 and that two laboratories examined the material.

"Alexei was killed. More specifically, he was poisoned," she added.

Navalnaya has repeatedly accused Russia of killing him, an allegation the Kremlin dismisses as nonsense. President Vladimir Putin has said that before Navalny died there had been plans to swap Navalny in a prisoner exchange with the West.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

UNKNOWN LOCATION (RELEASED SEPTEMBER 17, 2025) (YULIA NAVALNAYA - No Resale/ No Archive/ Mandatory Onscreen Credit Yulia Navalnaya)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALEXEI NAVALNY'S WIDOW, YULIA NAVALNAYA, SAYING (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER STOCK FOOTAGE OF LABORATORIES):

“In February 2024, we were able to obtain samples of Alexei's biological material and securely smuggle them abroad. Labs in at least two countries examined these samples independently of each other, and these labs, in two different countries, reached the same conclusion. Alexei was killed. More specifically, he was poisoned.”

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALEXEI NAVALNY'S WIDOW, YULIA NAVALNAYA, SAYING (SOUNDBITE BEGINS WITH STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF NAVALNY AND NAVALNAYA TOGETHER):

“Alexei was my husband. He was my friend. He was a symbol of hope for our country. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin killed that hope. We have the right to know how he did it. I demand that the labs that conducted the analysis publish their results.”