Russia advances in Ukraine as Navalny’s family demand answers

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, is in Brussels on Monday for meetings.

Upon arrival at the European Council, she shook hands with its president Charles Michel, before meeting with him behind closed doors. The council is composed of the heads of state or government of all EU member states and serves as its chief decision-making body.

On Sunday, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said he would welcome Navalnaya at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.  

Borrell also expressed his “deepest condolences” to Navalnaya on X, and said Russian President Vladimir Putin and “his regime will be held accountable.”

Navalnaya met Friday with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Von der Leyen posted on X that she was “deeply disturbed and saddened” by news of Navalny’s death.

Meanwhile, Germany has summoned the Russian ambassador to the country in the wake of Navalny’s death, a German foreign office spokesman said.

Some context: The Russian prison service said Navalny died on Friday. The cause of his reported death remained unclear. Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. On arrival, Navalnvy was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated.

CNN’s James Frater and Eve Brennan in London contributed to this report.