THE BODY of the late Russian opposition leader has finally been returned to his mother.

It comes after pressure mounted on Putin from Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Ivanovna, and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh announced the news on X.

Yarmysh said: “Alexei’s body was given to his mother. Thank you very much to everyone who demanded this with us.”

Details of the funeral are yet to be announced.

Yarmysh added: “We don’t know whether the authorities will interfere with carrying them out the way the family wants and as Alexei deserves.”

Navalny’s mum Lyudmila, 69, had originally been blocked from seeing her son’s remains – with reports he was left battered and bruised.

It was only two days ago, eight agonising days after her son’s death, that Lyudmila was shown her son’s body.

Vladimir Putin’s staunchest critic is believed to have been murdered at the Polar Wolf penal colony where he was jailed on trumped-up charges.

The grieving mum claimed Russian officials were trying to blackmail her, and threatened to “do something” to the corpse.

“They want this to be done secretly, with no farewell. They want to bring me to the edge of a cemetery, to a fresh grave and say: here lies your son. I don’t agree to this,” she said in a YouTube video.

Navalny’s team and family have accused the Kremlin of murdering him – an allegation the Kremlin has angrily rejected.

According to Navalny’s team, Russian officials have been claiming that he had died of “natural causes”.

On February 17, Navalny’s mother and his lawyer were informed he had died of “sudden death syndrome”.