<<Print>>

The widow of dead Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny met EU chiefs in Brussels today hours after releasing a video in which she blamed Vladimir Putin for her husband's death in prison and accused the Kremlin of hiding his body.

Yulia Navalnaya addressed foreign ministers from the EU's 27 nations in Brussels after vowing to carry on her husband's fight against the Russian president's vicelike grip on Russia.

European diplomats said that she reiterated her determination to keep up the struggle and called on the bloc to do more to target Putin's circle - drawing a standing ovation from the room.

She also warned against striking any deals with the Russian leader or hoping that he would change, they said.

Hours earlier, Navalnaya had posted a striking video message on X in which she called on her husband's supporters to keep fighting against the Kremlin's oppression to construct a 'peaceful, happy, beautiful Russia that Alexei envisioned'.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on X: 'We expressed the EU's deepest condolences to Yulia Navalnaya. Vladimir Putin and his regime will be held accountable for the death of Alexei Navalny.

'As Yulia said, Putin is not Russia. Russia is not Putin. We will continue our support to Russia's civil society and independent media.'

Meanwhile, it was business as usual for Putin, who was seen smirking as he held a meeting at the Kremlin with Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol in occupied Crimea.