Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia Navalnaya says Vladimir Putin will not go 'unpunished'

The wife of the Kremlin critic, Yulia Navalnaya, has stated that if the death of Alexei Navalny, as claimed by Russian officials, turns out to be genuine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies will not go "unpunished."

Prior to this, the Russian prison service said that Navalny passed away on Friday while incarcerated in the Arctic penal colony for a 19-year term, according to Al Jazeera.

As Putin's most ardent opponent, the 47-year-old had led campaigns against government corruption and organised large-scale anti-Kremlin demonstrations.

Navlany's team stated that it has only seen a broad notification from the local court authority and has not yet received official confirmation of his passing.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, Yulia Navalnaya urged the world community to unite and oppose the "horrific regime" in Russia. Her attendance was planned before to the public disclosure of her husband's whereabouts.

She said in her address that she wasn't quite sure the news of her husband's passing was accurate.

“I don’t know whether we should believe the terrible news that we are receiving exclusively from Russian state sources,” said Yulia Navalnaya.

“We cannot believe Putin and Putin’s government,” she added. “They always lie.”

However, she called on the international community “to unite and fight evil”, and that Putin and his supporters would be held accountable soon.

Earlier, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila Navalnaya said her son had been “alive, healthy and happy” when she last saw him on February 12, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

“I don’t want to hear any condolences. We saw him in prison on [February] 12, in a meeting. He was alive, healthy and happy,” Navalnaya mother said in a Facebook post, according to the publication.

According to Russian official media, Navalny addressed a court by video link on Thursday, the last public appearance he made before his rumoured death.

A regional court from the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, said the RIA news agency that Navalny "spoke actively, presenting arguments in defence of his position" and did not voice any complaints about his health.

Separately, after viewing pictures of Navalny attending the court proceedings, Navalny's German attorney, Nikolaos Gazeas, told the daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger that he was shocked to learn of Navalny's passing.

“He made a fit and strong impression as usual,” he said, adding that a Russian colleague had visited Navalny on Wednesday while another was currently on his way to his prison to learn more about the circumstances of his death.