Yulia Navalny says she will return to Russia to run for president
- Yulia Navalnaya says she will return to Russia to run for president
- Her husband, Alexei, died eight months ago in an Arctic prison
- Navalny was seen as the biggest threat to Putin’s regime
Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has announced that she will return to Russia to run for president.
Navalnaya, 48, told the BBC that she plans to fight for control of the country following the death of her husband eight months ago in the infamous Polar Wolf prison, located in the Arctic region of Yamalo-Nenets.
Since the death of Navalny, an outspoken anti-corruption activist who was seen as the biggest threat to Vladimir Putin’s iron grip on Russia, no leader has emerged to unite the country’s diverse opposition and there has been significant power struggle between various Russian dissident groups abroad. .
‘My political opponent is Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything I can to bring down his regime as soon as possible,” Navalnaya told the BBC.
When the time is right, “I will participate in the elections… as a candidate,” she told the BBC.
She said she planned to wait until Putin is no longer in power before taking official political action.
Yulia Navalnaya (pictured) told the BBC that she plans to fight for control of the country
Alexei Navalny died in a prison in the Arctic, allegedly on orders from Vladimir Putin (photo)
Navalny (pictured) was an outspoken anti-corruption activist
While Putin, Russia’s top leader since the last day of 1999, is still in power, Navalnaya said she would not return. Putin turned 72 this month.
Navalny, 47, died suddenly on February 16, depriving the Russian opposition of its most charismatic and popular leader.
He had served prison sentences totaling more than 30 years on charges he said were falsified to silence his criticism of Putin.
The Kremlin portrays Navalny’s political allies as dangerous extremists seeking to destabilize the country on behalf of the West. It says Putin enjoys overwhelming support among ordinary Russians, pointing to opinion polls that put his approval rating above 80%.
Navalny described Putin’s Russia as a fragile criminal state, run by thieves, sycophants and spies who only care about money. He had long predicted that Russia would face seismic political upheaval, including a revolution.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, his wife Yulia, opposition politician Lyubov Sobol and other demonstrators march in memory of murdered Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow on February 29, 2020
People hold signs during a vigil for Alexiei Navalny in front of the Russian Consulate General on February 16, 2024 in Munich, Germany
In one of his last major essays, Navalny warned Russia’s elite of its venality in 2023 and expressed his hatred of those who squandered a historic opportunity to reform the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Navalnaya has accused Putin of ordering her husband’s murder, a claim the Kremlin has repeatedly rejected.
According to the AP and the Wall Street Journal, US intelligence agencies have determined that Putin did not order Navalny’s killing.
In August, Navalnaya ignored information from investigators that Navalny had died of “a combination of diseases.”
She told the BBC that the Anti-Corruption Foundation she now heads in her husband’s place has evidence that she will reveal when they have ‘the whole picture’.