Russian opposition wrote an autobipgraphy before he died

Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny wrote an autobiography before he died that will be published later this year, his widow Yulia Navalnaya has said, revealing the existence of a text his inner circle had kept secret for years.

Navalny, who died aged 47 in an Arctic prison in February, had wanted to become president of Russia and was Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic critic.

His allies, branded extremists by the authorities, have accused President Putin of having him murdered and have said they will provide proof to back that allegation.

The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death and, when he was alive, dismissed Navalny, a former lawyer who oversaw corruption investigations into Russia’s political elite, as a marginal US-backed troublemaker out to destabilise Russia.