His widow, Yulia Navalnaïa, “decided to fight in turn”

2024-02-19 20:20:19

“Putin killed the father of my children [et] with him, he wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future. » Yulia Navalnaïa did not bother to take any detours to point the finger at the Kremlin’s responsibility in the death of her husband, Alexeï Navalny in Russia, as soon as it was announced on Friday. Despite herself, and to the detriment of the tragedy that affects her, the 47-year-old widow finds herself propelled into the media spotlight around the world since the announcement of the death of the political opponent, exiled in a prison in the Arctic. She was in Munich, Germany, at a security conference.

“I would like Putin, all his staff, all his entourage, all his government, his friends, to know that they will be punished for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband,” he said. -she affirmed in a firm voice. And added: “that day will come very soon. » Until now, the forty-year-old, a public figure due to her husband’s commitment against corruption and the regime of Vladimir Putin, had refused to discuss her political future and described herself as a wife and a mother – she had two children with Alexeï Navalny, Daria, 23 years old and Zakhar, 16 years old.

Yulia Navalnaïa “decided to fight in turn”

“She was never an independent political figure. She played a leading role alongside her husband for years, she was very present, very active and she supported his fight, especially after his poisoning in August 2020. But the role of number one is very different from that of number two,” warns Anne de Tinguy, researcher at Sciences Po and professor emeritus at Inalco. This Monday, Yulia Navalnaïa promised to continue “the work” of her late husband. A notable change in tone.

I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny. Continue to fight for our country. And I invite you to stand next to me. pic.twitter.com/aBOIvcYHHk

— Yulia Navalnaya (@yulia_navalnaya) February 19, 2024

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“Her speech has been very political since the announcement of the death of her husband, nicknamed “Polar Wolf,” notes Anne de Tinguy. She makes Vladimir Putin personally responsible for the death of her husband, she accuses him of having killed the man but also the hope, freedom and future of Russia and encourages Russians to fight with her. » The message of the video posted this Monday on This Monday, she also went to meet the foreign ministers of the European Union, in Brussels. After their meeting, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell assured that the Russian president will have to “be held accountable” for the death of the opponent, while the Russian authorities refuse to hand over the body of the “polar wolf” to his loved ones. .

Yulia Navalnaïa therefore seems ready to take up the torch of a fierce battle against the Kremlin. Almost in spite of herself. “I shouldn’t be here.” There should have been another person in my place. But this person was killed by Vladimir Putin,” she breathes in her video, dressed in a dark outfit. She is not the first wife to find herself propelled to the front of the stage. “We all remember Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya who took her husband’s place in the presidential race in Belarus when he was imprisoned. After an election that many sources consider fraudulent, she became the representative of the Belarusian opposition, in exile,” recalls Anne de Tinguy.

A fragile torch to carry at arm’s length

Will Yulia Navalnaïa, born in Moscow, also leave her country? “If she stays in Russia, she will have to rebuild her husband’s networks, largely dismantled by those in power. She will also be the victim of repression which is only accelerating in Russia. So far, she has been apprehended several times but if she took a leading political role, it could go much further,” warns the researcher at Sciences Po. The Kremlin is increasingly gagging any form of protest. Since Friday, hundreds of people have been arrested in Russia for paying tribute to Alexeï Navalny.

+ information on Yulia Navalnaïa

“Even the fact of placing a flower in front of a stele in memory of the victims of Stalinism is considered extremism by those in power,” underlines Anne de Tinguy. The other alternative for the widow would therefore be to go into exile abroad, as the Belarusian Svetlana Tsikhanovskaïa did. “But exiles have a very weak political role in Russia. They cannot have political activity in their country and, in the eyes of the Russians, those who count remain on the territory,” warns the specialist. But whether she chooses exile or repression, Yulia Navalnaïa’s fight will remain difficult. Because the light of the torch can only be discreet in a country where “the Putinian regime is increasingly authoritarian and repressive,” concludes Anne de Tinguy.