Navalny's wife cannot confirm her husband's death

The wife of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, said she does not yet have her own confirmation of her husband's death.

"I don't know whether we should believe the terrible news that we are receiving exclusively from Russian state sources," she said on Friday in her speech at the Munich Security Conference, which was scheduled at short notice.

If the news is true, Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to answer for the death of her husband, said Navalnaya.

But she cautioned: "We cannot believe Putin and Putin's government."

"They always lie," she added.

Putin and his supporters should not be allowed to get away unpunished for "what they have done to our country, my family and my husband."

The day when they would be held accountable would come soon, she said.

"I would like to call on the international community and all the people in this room to unite and fight evil."