Vladimir Putin believes that he is “untouchable” after years of an iron grip on Russia, the wife of jailed opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza has said, as she accused the autocrat of murdering Alexei Navalny.
Speaking to the BBC, Evgenia Kara-Murza said: “All that impunity that lasted for decades has led [Putin] to believe he’s somehow untouchable.”
She added that Putin remaining in power will mean “more warmongering” in Ukraine.
Earlier, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy called for Putin to be tried in front of a special tribunal for the death of Mr Navalny.
Russian environmentalist Yevgenia Chirikova told The Independent that she planned to increase her support for the Ukrainian military in honour of her friend Mr Navalny.
It comes as the Russian opposition figure’s team accused authorities of deliberately hiding his body to “cover traces” of what they claim is a clear act of murder.
“They are trying to cover traces, this is why they are not giving the body to his family and this is why they are just hiding him from them,” Kira Yarmysh, Mr Navalny’s spokesperson, told the BBC.