'Killers Covering Their Tracks': Supporters Say Russia Refusing To Hand Over Body Of Putin Critic Navalny

The 47-year-old Putin critic died in an Arctic jail on Friday after more than three years in custody, triggering shock and condemnation from West and his followers.

Alexei Navalny supporters accused Russian authorities on Saturday of being "killers" who were "covering their tracks" by refusing to hand over his corpse, as the Kremlin remained mute in the face of Western allegations and a torrent of tributes to the late opposition leader, news agency AFP reported. The 47-year-old Putin critic died in an Arctic jail on Friday after more than three years in custody, triggering shock and condemnation from West and his supporters.

His demise, which the West pinned on the Kremlin, deprives Russia's opposition of a leader only a month before elections that are expected to strengthen President Vladimir Putin's hold on power.

Navalny's mother, Lyudmila, and his advocate were denied access to his corpse on Saturday after arriving in the isolated Siberian prison colony where he had been kept, according to his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh.

"It's obvious that the killers want to cover their tracks and are therefore not handing over Alexei's body, hiding it even from his mother," Navalny's team stated in a post on Telegram. 

"They don't want whatever method they used to kill Alexei to come out," Yarmysh was quoted as saying by AFP in its report. 

Russian police moved quickly around the nation on Saturday to break up small rallies in honor of the Kremlin critic, detaining more than 400 individuals in 36 towns, according to the OVD-Info rights organization. 

After first denying responsibility, the Kremlin made no statement on his death on Saturday, amid an outpouring of criticism from Western leaders.

On Saturday, G7 foreign ministers met in Munich and observed a minute's silence for the leader, while US President Joe Biden directly accused Putin. Putin, 71, has not reacted.

In the past, when questioned about his most vociferous opponent, the Russian leader notably avoided mentioning Navalny's name.

Yulia Navalnaya, speaking at the Munich Security Conference hours after her husband's murder, vowed Putin and his entourage will be "punished for everything they have done to our country, to my family, and to my husband".