Alexei Navalny death latest: Biden blames ‘Putin and his thugs’ as Russian opposition leader dies in jail

US leader Joe Biden has blamed Vladimir Putin directly for Alexei Navalny’s death.

“We don’t know exactly what happened to Navalny but no doubt his death was the consequence of Putin and his thugs,” the president said.

Paying tribute to the opposition leader, Mr Biden remembered him as a “powerful voice for the truth” and said his death was “proof of Putin’s brutality”.

Mr Biden urged congresspeople to pass the latest tranche of aid for Ukraine.

He wants Republican hardliners in Congress to support extra funding for more weaponry.

Exclusive: Friends have shared memories of the “Martin Luther King of Russia” as they accuse the Kremlin of lying about the opposition leader’s death:

The opposition leader’s death makes the Russian president’s fiercest critic a hero and a martyr, writes Mary Dejevsky:

Joe Biden refused to rule out further sanctions on Russia following Mr Navalny’s death.

He said he hoped to God the news would help pass aid for Ukraine.

Mr Navalny “bravely stood up to the corruption, the violence and all the bad things the Putin government was doing,” the US president said at the White House.

In Moscow and other Russian cities, people laid flowers at monuments to victims of Soviet-era repression.

But there was no immediate indication Mr Navalny’s death would spark large protests, given that the opposition is already fractured and beleaguered. His death will deal it another heavy blow.

Mr Navalny’s spokeswoman has said there is almost no hope that he is alive. Kira Yarmysh had earlier said his team were still seeking confirmation of prison chiefs’ announcement.