– My political opponent is Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything to ensure that his regime falls as soon as possible, said Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the Russian leader, in an interview with the BBC. She confessed that she wants to run in the presidential elections in Russia, but as long as Putin rules in the Kremlin, she cannot return to the country.
Yulia Navalnaya announced in an interview with the BBC that “when the time comes, she will take part in the (presidential) elections as a candidate.” – He is my political opponent Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything to ensure that his regime falls as soon as possible, she declared.
The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is currently abroad Russia. In an interview with the BBC, she admitted that as long as Putin is in power, she cannot return to Russia. Navalnana recalled that she could not come to Moscow even for her husband's funeralbecause she was afraid of being arrested. The Russian authorities initiated a criminal case against her on charges of participation in an “extremist organization” (the Foundation for the Fight against Corruption, which he founded in 2011 Alexei Navalny).
Yulia Navalnaya GIAN EHRENZELLER/PAP/EPA
Sanctions after the death of a Kremlin critic
Navalny, the most famous anti-Kremlin oppositionist, died in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic Wolf penal colony above the Arctic Circlewhere he served a 19-year sentence. The Russian authorities announced his sudden death on February 16 this year. From the very beginning, the oppositionist's associates suspected that he might have been killed or poisoned on the order of the Kremlin authorities.
Yulia Navalnaya told the BBC that for two years until his death, she was not allowed to see or talk to her husband. She said Alexei was tortured, starved and held in “terrible conditions.”
After the death of a Kremlin critic USAEU and Great Britain announced new sanctions against Russia. They included freezing the assets of prison bosses who ran a penal colony above the Arctic Circle, as well as sanctions against judges involved in the criminal trial against Navalny.
“Even on the day of his funeral, it is clear that the authorities were terribly afraid of him and still are.”Joanna Stempień/Fakty o Świecie TVN24
Sanctions after the death of a Kremlin critic
Navalnaya described the international community's reaction to her husband's death as a “joke,” insisting it should be “a little less afraid” of Putin.
– I don't want him (Putin) to sit in prison somewhere abroad, in a good prison with a computer and good food. I want him to be in a Russian prison. And not only that, I would like him to be kept in the same conditions as Alexei. This is very important to me, she emphasized.
The BBC's Russian section recalled that Navalna “was never a politician” and her life changed radically after her husband's death.
Navalnay gave an interview to the BBC before the publication of the book “Patriot”. Alexei Navalny's book will be published on October 22 in 26 languages, including Russian. This is the politician's autobiography and diaries, written in custody after his detention at Sheremetyevo airport in January 2021, until his death in the penal colony in the town of Charp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District of Russia.
Main photo source: GIAN EHRENZELLER/PAP/EPA