A spokesperson for Alexei Navalny, a leading opponent of Vladimir Putin who died in a high-security prison in the Arctic Circle, accused the authorities of murder and is calling for Navalny's body to be returned to his family, following reports that it was taken by investigators. Navalny's death removes a bold political challenger to Putin from Russia's political landscape. Navalny had been imprisoned in a remote Arctic penal colony known as one of Russia's toughest prisons since 2021 on charges widely seen as politically motivated.