Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said on Monday that she would press on with her husband’s fight for a free Russia and called on supporters to battle dictator Vladimir Putin with greater fury than ever.
Navalny’s death robs Russia’s disparate opposition of its most charismatic and courageous leader as Putin prepares for an election that will keep him in power until at least 2030.
In a nine-minute video message laced with rage, Navalnaya said Putin had killed her husband and, in doing so, had robbed her of a husband and her two children of a father.
But she said the only answer to such a crime was to continue her late husband’s fight for a free and prosperous Russia. Russians, she said, wanted to live differently, even if there appeared little hope.
“I urge you to stand next to me,” she said. “I ask you to share the rage with me. Rage, anger, and hatred towards those who dared to kill our future.”
Navalnaya accused the Russian authorities of hiding Navalny’s corpse and of waiting for traces of the Novichok nerve agent to disappear from his body.
“Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” Navalnaya said. “By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me - half of my heart and half of my soul.”
“But I still have the other half, and it tells me that I have no right to give up. I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny, and continue to fight for our country,” she pledged.
In a nine-minute video message laced with rage, Navalnaya said Putin had killed her husband and, in doing so, had robbed her of a husband and her two children of a father.
But she said the only answer to such a crime was to continue her late husband’s fight for a free and prosperous Russia. Russians, she said, wanted to live differently, even if there appeared little hope.
“I want to live in a free Russia; I want to build a free Russia,” Navalnaya said in the video message entitled “I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny.”Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Alexei Navalny: "We know exactly why Putin killed Alexei three days ago. We will share this with you soon."
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 19, 2024
Yulia said she will continue fighting for Alexei Navalny's cause and urged other Russians to join her. pic.twitter.com/xymCSiKZrR
“I urge you to stand next to me,” she said. “I ask you to share the rage with me. Rage, anger, and hatred towards those who dared to kill our future.”
Navalnaya accused the Russian authorities of hiding Navalny’s corpse and of waiting for traces of the Novichok nerve agent to disappear from his body.
“Vladimir Putin killed my husband,” Navalnaya said. “By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me - half of my heart and half of my soul.”
“But I still have the other half, and it tells me that I have no right to give up. I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny, and continue to fight for our country,” she pledged.
Source: Reuters
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