The widow of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, Yulia Navalnaïa, accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having “killed” her husband and promised to continue his “work”, in a video published Monday. “Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Alexei Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children,” she said in this video posted on social networks.
“With him, (Putin) wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future,” asserted Yulia Navalnaïa. During his imprisonment, Alexei Navalny was “manhandled, cut off from the world” and “yet he did not give up,” she said. “My husband could not be broken, and that is why Putin killed him,” said Yulia Navalnaya. She promised to find out “who carried out this crime” and under what circumstances.
And then it came to Alex Navaly. Продолжать бороться за нашу с вами страну. It will be sent to you today. pic.twitter.com/aBOIvcYHHk
— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) February 19, 2024
“We must unite to hit Putin with one blow”
“I will continue the work of Alexeï Navalny. I will continue for our country, with you. And I call on you all to stand close to me (…) It is not a shame to do little, it is a shame to do nothing, it’s a shame to let yourself be frightened,” she said. His notoriety had pushed some of Alexeï Navalny’s supporters to dream of a political future for him, even before the opponent and anti-corruption activist was behind bars.
“We must unite to strike at one blow Putin, his friends, the thugs in shoulder pads, the courtiers and the killers who want to paralyze our country,” she said. The day the death of Alexeï Navalny was announced, she spoke, with tears in her eyes, already asking that Vladimir Putin be “punished”.