Putin has promoted a prison boss accused of torturing allegedly murdered Alexei Navalny as the Kremlin critics mother has begged for his body to be released so she can bury him. The Russian president handed out a major promotion to Valery Boyarinev, 53, the deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service, as he made him Colonel-General three days after the reported death of Navalny.

Human rights group gulagu.net - which highlights prison abuses and is headed by exiled Vladimir Osechkin - alleged Boyarinev is the 'curator of torture conveyors and special measures against Alexei Navalny and thousands of Ukrainian prisoners'. The group said it was 'under the supervision of Boyarinev [that] hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners were tortured, forcing many to confess to genocide and executions of civilians in order to justify the war'. Boyarinev has been previously accused of limiting the amount of food Navalny could obtain in prison. This comes as Navalny's mother has called on Putin to release her son's body 'immediately', after authorities told her she wouldn't be able to see it for at least 14 days.

Lyudmila, who has been fighting to get her son's body back, said in a video statement five days after her son's death: 'I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin, the solution to the issue depends only on you. Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei's body be released immediately so that I can bury him in a humane way.' Navalny, 47, fell unconscious and died suddenly on Friday after a walk at the 'Polar Wolf' penal colony above the Arctic Circle where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said. The West and Navalny's supporters say Putin is responsible for Navalny's death. The Kremlin has denied involvement and said that Western claims that Putin was responsible were unacceptable.

Putin has made no public comment on Navalny's death but it has further deepened a gaping schism in relations between Moscow and the West caused by the nearly two-year Ukraine war. After Putin promoted Boyarinev following Navalny's death, human rights group gulagu.net said: 'Since July 2022, this experienced sadist... has held the post of first deputy and oversees all operational work of the Gulag of the 21st century. 'The Lubyanka [FSB security service] has been promoting this executive executioner for a long time. 'And now - for the murder of Alexei Navalny - dictator Putin assigns him the rank of Colonel-General.' The allegations went on: 'Boyarinev fulfilled Putin's wish - the physical elimination of his main political opponent.'

After Boyarinev's promotion was signed off three days after officials say Navalny died, he is likely to become the next director of the sprawling jail service. Other senior prison officials were promoted in the days after Navalny's death for which no official cause has been revealed. Alexander Rozin, 41, another deputy director of the Russian prison system, becomes a Lt-General. Two others were promoted to Major-General, head of the FSIN affairs department Dmitry Sharovatov, and the head of the FSIN personnel department Alexander Fedorov.

Yesterday, Russian investigators said they would not hand over Navalny's body for at least 14 days , his team revealed, after his widow, Yulia, claimed he had been poisoned with Novichok. Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said the Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, informed Lyudmila Navalnaya that the official probe into the death had been extended. 'They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it,' Yarmysh posted on X. Yulia Navalnaya accused the Russian authorities of hiding Navalny's body in order to wait for traces of the nerve agent to disappear. She met with European leaders in Brussels just hours after publishing her own video statement in which she vowed to pick up where Alexei left off, and directly blamed Putin for her husband's death.

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, and asked the European Union not to recognise Russia's March election, which is almost certain to give President Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

Navalnaya used a video message from abroad on Monday to call on supporters to oppose Putin with greater fury than ever and free Russia from what she characterised as a corrupt elite of 'bandits in uniform, thieves and murderers'. 'Do not recognise these elections. A president who assassinated his main political opponent cannot be legitimate by definition,' Navalnaya said. Asked about Yulia Navalnaya's allegation that Putin had killed her husband, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday he could not comment given the circumstances.

'We leave it without comment. Of course, these are absolutely unsubstantiated, obnoxious accusations against the head of the Russian state. But given that Yulia Navalnaya was widowed just days earlier, I will leave it without comment'. Peskov said Navalnaya's talk of a nerve agent being used against her husband was unfounded.

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