Navalny's mother 'told to agree to secret burial'

Alexei Navalny's mother has been told to agree to a "secret" burial for the Putin critic within three hours, his spokeswoman says.

If Lyudmila Navalnaya did not agree, he would be buried at the prison where he died a week ago, the spokeswoman said a Russian investigator had told her.

On Thursday, Ms Navalnaya said she was made to sign a death certificate saying her son died of natural causes.

Mr Navalny's widow Yulia has said he was killed by Russian authorities.

Mr Navalny died in a prison colony on 16 February. Prison officials said he had fallen ill following a "walk".

But Yulia Navalnaya has claimed that he was killed on the orders of Mr Putin and vowed to continue his struggle.

The Kremlin has denied the allegations, calling Western reaction to the death "hysterical".

Airlifted to Germany, he recovered there before returning to Russia in January 2021, where he was imprisoned.

Attempts at commemorating his death have been met by a heavy-handed response from Russian authorities, with makeshift monuments cleared and hundreds arrested.