The body of deceased Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will not be released to his family for at least another two weeks, according to his spokesperson, news that comes as his widow vows to carry on the fight against President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny, 47, apparently died in Russian state custody on Friday. According to Yulia Navalnaya, her husband’s death was ordered by Putin himself. In a recorded address made public on Monday, she said she will continue the work her husband started and that ultimately led to his demise.

“Putin has not just killed Alexei Navalny, a person, he wanted to kill our hopes together with him. Our freedom, our future. We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will share this with you soon. But the most important thing we can do for Alexei and for ourselves is to continue fighting,” she said in Russian, according to a translation shared by former advisor to the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Anton Gerashchenko.

Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Alexei Navalny: “We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will share this with you soon.”

Yulia said she will continue fighting for Alexei Navalny’s cause and urged other Russians to join her. pic.twitter.com/xymCSiKZrR

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 19, 2024

Navalnaya urged her fellow Russians to stand with her as she moved to take up her husband’s mantle.

“I will continue fighting for our country and I urge you to stand by my side, to share in the grief and endless pain that has covered us and doesn’t let go. I ask you to share the fury with me,” she said. “Russia — free, peaceful, happy — the beautiful Russia of the future that my husband dreamed so much about, that’s what we need.”

Navalny had been housed north of the arctic circle in a “special regime” penal colony IK-3, some 1,200 miles northeast of Moscow near the town of Kharp in Russia’s Yamalо-Nenets region, where he was serving out what remained of the 19-year sentence imposed following his arrest in 2021.

Officials with Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service say Navalny fell ill after a walk and lost consciousness. First responders tried but were unable to revive the opposition leader, according to the Penitentiary Service.

Navalny’s mother has not been able to see her son’s body, and will not for at least another two weeks, according to Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh.

“The investigators told the lawyers and Alexei’s mother that they would not give them the body. The body will be under some sort of ‘chemical examination’ for another 14 days,” she said via the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The investigators told the lawyers and Alexey’s mother that they would not give them the body. The body will be under some sort of “chemical examination” for another 14 days.

— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) February 19, 2024

Former President Donald Trump, the leading contender for the Republican nomination and a frequent Putin apologist, broke three days of silence on Navalny’s death Monday morning, likening the Russian opposition leader’s circumstances to his own legal jeopardies.

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“The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction,” he wrote on his Truth Social media platform.

His opponent in the Republican nominating contest, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has long been a critic of Russia’s president, did not seem satisfied with his response.

“Donald Trump could have condemned Vladimir Putin for being a murderous thug,” Haley said in a statement. “Trump could have praised Navalny’s courage. Instead, he stole a page from liberals’ playbook, denouncing America and comparing our country to Russia.”