The Kremlin has rejected as "baseless" an assessment by five European countries that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died from poisoning while in an Arctic prison two years ago.
Mr Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest domestic opponent, died in an Arctic prison colony in February 2024 while serving a 19-year sentence.
They based their assessment on samples taken from his body, the statement said.
"We naturally do not accept such accusations. We disagree with them. We consider them biased and baseless," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing call this morning.
Meanwhile, Mr Navalny's mother said she felt vindicated by the European assessment that her son died of poisoning and called for "justice", as his supporters marked two years since his death in prison.
"This confirms what we knew from the very beginning. We knew that our son did not simply die in prison, he was murdered," Ms Navalny's mother Lyudmila Navalnaya told reporters outside the cemetery where he was buried in Moscow.
"I think it will take some time, but we will find out who did it. Of course, we want this to happen in our country, and we want justice to prevail," she added.
Dozens of people visited Mr Navalny's grave early this morning, among them foreign diplomats.
Some of those who attended wore masks or scarves over their faces.
Russian authorities designated Mr Navalny and his organisation "extremist" before his death, and anyone who mentions him or his exiled anti-corruption foundation are liable for prosecution.
