- Written by Sarah Rainsford
- Eastern Europe correspondent
For many years, Yulia Navalnaya was almost always present by her husband's side. During her political protests and court hearings, she was often there holding his hand.
When Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, it was Yulia who asked for permission to fly him abroad for life-saving treatment.
And now he died alone in a prison in the Arctic, far from her.
She blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for this and is calling on Russians to now stand by her side in the fight against Putin.
Yulia Navalnaya's video statement posted online on Monday was a deliberate and dramatic step toward garnering political attention. Her love for her husband is so strong, and her grief still so raw, that some of her recordings are painful to watch.
But it's very convincing.
Mr Navalny's widow said she was torn in two and heartbroken. But it is her anger that makes her continue her husband's cause.
She says that she wants to make sure that his “unthinkable” death is not in vain and that she wants to create a “beautiful future Russia” for him.
For some Russians who oppose Mr. Putin and are currently very depressed, this speech would have been heartening.
Until this moment, Yulia Navalnaya had been modest and distant. But when you watch the video, you can see that she is a woman with great inner strength.
Her loss and love give her a clear moral authority, and she is fascinating.
strong woman
There is precedent for strong women filling in for absent men.
This was most noticeable in neighboring Belarus. Authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko underestimated Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and allowed her to register for the 2020 presidential election when her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky was arrested.
This sexism nearly cost Mr. Lukashenko his extremely long grip on power. As Tikhanovskaya declared a landslide victory, large crowds took to the streets shouting about voter fraud.
She was forced to flee the country after receiving a warning from the KGB, and now works as the “president” in exile.
Evgenia Kara-Murza also plays a global role.
When her husband was poisoned in Moscow in 2015 and 2017, Evgenia fought to stay by his side in the hospital, protecting him “like a dog.”
At the time, Vladimir Kara-Murza was campaigning for Western leaders to tighten sanctions against Putin's people.
And in 2022, he was arrested and convicted of treason for accusing Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.
Evgenia now spends most of her time campaigning for her husband's freedom and sanctions in Western capitals.
Yulia Navalnaya could also play a similar role.
She has already addressed EU foreign ministers, who issued a statement of “outrage” following Navalny's death. They declared that Mr. Putin was “ultimately responsible” and promised “further costs” that have not yet been specified.
However, it is difficult to see him leading the opposition forces within Russia.
First, Yulia Navalnaya is abroad. It would be extremely dangerous for her to return to Moscow as an activist, since she has just accused Putin of murdering her husband.
Navalny's political organization is banned in Russia as an “extremist” group on par with Islamic State or al-Qaeda.
In April 2021, Navalny's team staged a protest in a “last fight” before the organization was banned. The cause was a powerful one. There was a massive police presence.
However, the number of protesters was not very impressive. Since then, pressure on all opponents has intensified.
Navalny's activists are either in prison, like him, or in exile to avoid arrest.
President Vladimir Putin has spent the past two decades in power systematically crushing all opposition.
There is nothing left for Navalnaya to lead.
a monument of despair
Flowers piled up at monuments to Navalny across Russia show that many people want change.
Every time the men in black hoods remove the offerings, people bring more flowers. It is a quiet and peaceful act of resistance.
It is these Russians who Navalny's widow gave a video address calling on people to unite and “punch hard” against Putin's regime.
But their fear and helplessness feels too strong.
After all, it was Alexei Navalny who threw the hardest punch of his life, and he paid a huge price for it.