Navalny's widow accuses Kremlin of hiding opposition leader's body to cover up his murder

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's widow accused the Kremlin on Monday of hiding his body to cover up his murder in an Arctic penal colony.

Vowing to continue her late husband's fight against President Vladimir Putin, Yulia Navalnaya called on Russians to rally around her in a lengthy video address.

Her comments came after Navalny's team said his mother and lawyers were denied access to his body and told the probe into what killed him had been extended.

“Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” Navalnaya, 47, said in a nine-minute video posted to YouTube ahead of her meeting with European Union foreign ministers in Brussels. She said authorities were waiting for traces of “yet another Putin's Novichok”to leave his body — referring to the military nerve agent used to poison him years ago.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in that poisoning and dismissed suggestions Putin was behind his death on Friday.

Yulia vowed to continue her husband's efforts to secure a free Russia. “We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will tell you soon about it. We will also definitely find out who exactly and how exactly this crime was committed. We will name names and show faces,” she said in the video.

“The most important thing we can do for Alexei and for ourselves is to continue to fight,” she added.

“I will continue the life work of Alexei Navalny,” Navalnaya said. “I call on you to stand with me.”

Russia’s prison authorities said Navalny died suddenly after collapsing following a walk in the remote “Polar Wolf” prison on Friday afternoon.

The news sparked outrage, with many international leaders pointing the finger at Putin while Russia's scattered opposition reeled from the loss of one of the