Vladimir Putin “murdered” Alexei Navalny – and his ally Alexander Lukashenko is likewise hellbent on violently suppressing all dissent in Belarus, exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has said.

Mr Navalny, an outspoken critic of the Russian President, died at a remote Arctic penal colony last week, the country’s prison service said, with reports surfacing this morning appearing to back up the claim that he had suffered a violent death.

Navalny’s team yesterday claimed he was “murdered” and accused the authorities of deliberately stalling the release of the body – and Ms Tsikhanouskaya agreed. And today reports emerged suggesting his body was bruised in manner consistent with convulsions.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, 41, stood against Lukashenko, Belarus’s President, in the 2020 election after the arrest of her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky

After independent observers declared her the winner, she was also threatened with arrest and told to leave the country. Mr Tikhanovsky was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison for widely discredited public order offences.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, who is now based in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, told Express.co.uk she had no doubts about Putin’s culpability in the case of Mr Navalny, who previously survived a nerve agent poisoning.

She explained: “I have no doubt that Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death. This is not the first opponent of Putin who dies an untimely death.

“We know that Putin tried to murder Navalny once, and he almost succeeded back then. It is clear to everyone that his death as a political prisoner is a result of the regime’s actions.

“I will call it a murder. Even the timing may not be a coincidence – just a week before the anniversary of Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

Concurring with the scepticism of Mr Navalny’s friends and family, she continued: “I don’t believe that we will learn any truth from this official inquiry. How can you ask the murderer to solve the crime?

“But we have to make sure that those responsible for this are held accountable. And this responsibility ends with one person – Putin.

“Whether they will release his body depends on internal and external pressures, but it’s crucial that the international community demands transparency and accountability.

Ms Tsikhanouskaya, who on Friday released a social media clip in which she pointed the finger squarely at Putin, admitted her situation was in many ways similar.

She said: “Every person faces a deeply personal and difficult choice in such circumstances.

“I am aware of the risks to my own safety because of my work, but I am much more concerned for my husband and all other political prisoners held by the Belarus regime.

“They are in the hands of a murderous dictator, and they need all of our support. If there is no reaction from the international community, the dictator Lukashenko may feel emboldened.

“The fight for democratic change is not without personal risks, but silence and inaction would be a greater mistake. I believe that we can pave the way for a future where such sacrifices are no longer necessary.”

Looking to the future, she continued: “I hope that Navalny will inspire Russians to resist the regime.

“He sacrificed his life for his beliefs in a different Russia. I think that most of the world, including me, wants to see this Russia that he believed in.

“He dreamed of a Russia that is free and democratic. This dream is what he leaves behind: the powerful idea that another Russia is possible.

“I hope that this vision becomes a reality one day. However, we must confront the current reality – Putin’s Russia, which denies Belarus and Ukraine the right to exist, just as it suppresses any form of political opposition within its own borders.”

Speaking yesterday, Navalny’s closest ally and strategist Leonid Volkov was in no doubt about what he saw as an obvious cover-up by the Russian authorities.

He explained: “Everything there is covered with cameras in the colony. Every step he took was filmed from all angles all these years.

“Each employee has a video recorder. In two days, there has been not a single video leaked or published. There is no room for uncertainty here.”

A report in Novaya Gazeta Europe suggested his body was bruised “in a manner consistent with convulsions and possible chest compressions”.