Journalists from the independent news outlet Mediazona have discovered footage from the night after Alexey Navalny died that shows a convoy of official vehicles traveling from a town near the prison where Navalny died towards the town of Salekhard, where Navalny’s body is reportedly now in a morgue.
According to Mediazona, the publicly available footage came from road cameras installed to help locals assess ice crossing conditions and ferry wait times at the Ob River, which intersects the only road connecting the prison to Salekhard.
Конвой ФСИН в ночь с 16 на 17 февраля мог перевозить тело Навального в Салехард. Видео с камер
Медиазона
At around midnight on the night of February 16, a convoy consisting of two traffic police vehicles in the front and back, a grey sedan with civilian plates, and an FSIN off-road utility vehicle were recorded crossing the ice road over the river.
Mediazona noted that the convoy was traveling significantly slower than other vehicles on the crossing. After crossing the Ob River, it traveled in the direction of Salekhard, though there’s no available footage showing the rest of its route.
Mediazona’s journalists believe the convoy was transporting Alexey Navalny’s body from the prison where he died to Salekhard in a deliberate effort to hide it from Navalny’s relatives. They were able to find no similar convoys at the crossing in footage from the previous days.
The search for Navalny’s body
- Russian federal investigators traveled to prison region after Navalny’s death, says source
- Over 12,000 people have sent appeals to Investigative Committee demanding release of Navalny’s body, says Russian human rights project
- Paramedic says Navalny’s body has bruises consistent with seizure, chest compressions
- Human rights lawyer says Russian authorities can legally keep Alexey Navalny’s body for up to 30 days