Yulia Navalnaya vows to challenge Putin's regime
The widow of Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, announced in an interview with the BBC on Monday that she plans to run in the Russian presidential elections. However, she stated that she would only do so "when Putin is no longer in power."
Navalnaya emphasised that she intends to continue the fight for democracy that her husband led. "My political opponent is Vladimir Putin, and I will do everything to ensure his regime collapses as soon as possible," she assured BBC. She confessed that she eagerly awaits the day when Putin's rule ends and there is an opportunity to conduct free and fair elections in the country.
The widow of the opposition leader admitted that since her husband's death, she has been increasingly contemplating the impact of politics on family life, especially on their 23-year-old daughter Dasha and 16-year-old son Zachary. As she pointed out, she never asked Alexei Navalny to change his life plans or give up his political activities.
Navalnaya reminisced about her husband, who died in February under unexplained circumstances in a gulag in Northern Russia. She confessed that she never doubted that the regime would fail to break him. "I am absolutely certain that this is why they ultimately decided to kill him – they simply realised that he would never give in," she noted.
She recalled a court recording, the day before his death, showing Navalny joking with the judge. According to Yulia Navalnaya, laughter was his "superpower". "He truly laughed sincerely at this regime and Vladimir Putin. And that’s why Vladimir Putin hated him so much," she added.
Yulia Navalnaya speaks out
The interview with Navalnaya also appeared on Monday in the French newspaper "Le Figaro". In this conversation, she argues that although Putin's nuclear threats should be considered, one should primarily not fear him. "His strength comes from his ability to terrify and intimidate everyone. I think our main strength against him is not to be afraid," she emphasised.
The widow of the opposition leader warned that despite "different approaches" in the West towards Russia's policy, the "fundamental thing" is that Putin "has shown that he absolutely cannot be trusted.” Navalnaya noted that "one should not imagine that (Putin) will respect potential agreements."
She also assessed that changes in Russia should come from within. She accused the West of "not wanting to pay attention to the fact that Vladimir Putin has been becoming a de facto dictator for years". "Western leaders treated him as a genuine president, despite his path of repression and the obvious corruption of his regime. From this point of view, the West allowed Putin to dictate the rules of the game," Navalnaya said.
Interviews with the widow of Alexei Navalny in the BBC and "Le Figaro" were published on the eve of the worldwide premiere of his autobiography titled "Patriot". It contains notes from his time behind bars, which lasted more than three years. The opposition leader suddenly died in a gulag in Northern Russia on 16 February this year.
