BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb 16, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The EU on Sunday said that 
Russia's President Vladimir Putin bore "ultimate responsibility" for the 
death of Alexei Navalny, as it paid tribute to the late opposition figurehead 
on the one-year anniversary of his passing.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Navalny "gave 
his life for a free and democratic Russia" and called for the release of all 
political prisoners in the country.

"Today marks one year since the death of Russian opposition leader politician 
Alexei Navalny, for which President Putin and the Russian authorities bear 
ultimate responsibility," Kallas said in a statement.

The charismatic Navalny -- Putin's main opponent who campaigned against 
government corruption -- died a year ago while incarcerated in a remote 
Arctic penal colony.

Russian authorities have never fully explained his death, which they said 
happened while he was walking in the prison yard.

"As Russia intensifies its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, it also 
continues its internal repression, targeting those who stand for democracy," 
Kallas said.

Navalny's lawyers remain "unjustly imprisoned, together with hundreds of 
political prisoners", she added.

"Russia must immediately and unconditionally release Alexei Navalny's lawyers 
and all political prisoners," Kallas said.

Navalny -- Putin's main opponent -- was declared an "extremist" by Russian 
authorities, a ruling that remains in force despite his death, which came 
less than a month before a presidential election that extended Putin's more 
than two-decade rule.

In Russia, anybody who mentions Navalny or his Anti-Corruption Foundation 
without stating that they have been declared "extremist" is subject to fines, 
or up to four years in prison for repeated offences.

Until his death, the 47-year-old continued to call for Russians to oppose the 
Kremlin and denounced Moscow's Ukraine offensive, even from behind bars.