- Navalnaya leads after Navalny’s death
- Faces Kremlin suppression, opposition discord
- Vows to continue Navalny’s fight
A Valentine’s Day letter was written by Alexey Navalny in honor of his wife and companion Yulia, two days before his passing.
“Baby, we are like the lyrics of the song [Hope] – there are cities, airport takeoff lights, blue blizzards, and thousands of kilometers between us,” he wrote on St. Valentine’s Day, February 14.
Nevertheless, I sense your presence in my life constantly, and my affection for you grows,” he wrote beside a photograph of himself and Yulia Navalnaya, a tall, blonde former bank teller whom he met in 1998 while on vacation in Turkey.
Navalny, who was also 47 years old, passed away in what his supporters and his widow suspect was a Kremlin-coordinated political assassination, two days after his final social media post.
Navalnaya’s Vow Against Kremlin Suppression
Navalnaya made a solemn commitment to succeed her husband as the leader of the Fund to Fight Corruption, an organization renowned for its extensive reach across Russia, publication of exposing corruption, and coordination of massive demonstrations.
It was labeled “extremist” by the Kremlin and subsequently disbanded. Dozens of its employees were persecuted, with some receiving prison terms of up to nine years, and numerous others were expelled from Russia.
The demise of Navalny and the anticipated re-election of President Vladimir Putin in March could potentially indicate a more stringent suppression of any indication of opposition or critique towards the conflict in Ukraine.
Analysts and opposition figures, however, assert that for Navalnaya to ascend to the position of undisputed leader of the Russian opposition in exile, she would have to surmount profound discord among fragmented and disunited factions that frequently criticized her spouse.
Several hours after receiving the distressing news of her spouse’s demise, Navalnaya addressed a security conference in Munich, Germany, where she exhibited a composed demeanor befitting a resilient bereaved widow.
She did not shed a tear despite being draped in a navy blue suit, having her hair drawn back, and having a face contorted with agony; rather, she sounded like a Valkyrie staking vengeance.
“I wish to convey to Putin, his circle of allies, and his government that they shall be held accountable for their actions towards our nation, my family, and my spouse. “And this day will soon arrive,” Navalnaya declared to a standing ovation.
She committed to “continue” Navalny’s efforts three days later.
“I implore you to partake in my indignation. “Those who dared to murder our future have my ire, my rage, and my hatred,” she wrote in a YouTube video that has been viewed over five million times.
The acquaintances of her deceased spouse are certain that she would be an ideal successor to him and that, in addition, she would assist in closing the gender disparity in anti-Kremlin activism.
“Does she possess sufficient resources to proceed?” She is stronger than the majority of us. Will she achieve political success? Russia has long needed a creative female figure in politics, and that demand will only increase,” said Aleksander Zykov, who before fleeing to the Netherlands oversaw a Fund to Fight Corruption branch in the western city of Kostroma.
“I believe in Yulia Navalnaya for this reason,” he confirmed.
Uniting members of other opposition groups that operate clandestinely or in exile within Russia, she must navigate a precarious situation and satisfy enormous responsibilities.
By organizing some of the largest protest rallies in post-Soviet Russia, developing an online “machine of truth” for citizens to lodge complaints about bureaucratic obstacles, potholed roads, and leaking roofs, and establishing an application to support anti-Kremlin politicians, Navalny paved the way.
“Navalny’s team created a broader opposition movement unaffiliated with the Fund to Fight Corruption or other organizations,” said opposition activist Sergey Biziyukin, who escaped the city of Ryazan in western Russia.
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He said, “It was quite distinct from other parties, organizations, and funds that rendered the opposition movement a noble but difficult-to-enter crowd.”
“It would be advantageous if Navalnaya and her team could accomplish the same,” he stated.
Yulia and Alexey were wed in 2000, the year Putin was inaugurated as president.
Yabloko (Russian: apple), the oldest liberal democratic party with a seat in the State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament, was the political party that both individuals affiliated with.
However, Navalnaya was more concerned with their two children, Daria and Zakhar, and participated minimally in her husband’s business.
Conversely, his displeasure with Yabloko’s complacency and prudence in the face of Putin’s progressively aggressive policies occupied him.
Navalny was expelled from Yabloko in 2007, as Putin’s second term was drawing to a close, for participating in the Russian March, an annual gathering of far-right nationalists, monarchists, and white supremacists.
Together with novelist Zakhar Prilepin, who would later fight for Ukrainian separatists and co-chair a pro-Kremlin socialist party, Navalny co-founded the National Russian Liberation Movement, a nationalist organization.
Numerous liberal-minded Russian Democrats are unable to absolve and forget Navalny’s nationalistic and derogatory remarks towards Muslims, whom he once referred to as “cockroaches.”
“When he told me that the future in Russia is solely determined by the nationalist Russian political process, I replied, ‘Okay, lad, we are done talking,'” Lev Ponomaryov, the leader of the Moscow-based For Human Rights organization and a “foreign agent” blacklisted by the Kremlin, told.
While reorienting his attention towards online and video reports that exposed corruption within the Kremlin, Navalny maintained his nationalistic stance without rescinding them.
The Fund to Fight Corruption, whose offices proliferated across Russia, was established by him.
However, Navalny’s supporters frequently reject the views of other Kremlin critics.
Boris Bondarev, a veteran Russian diplomat based at the United Nations office in Switzerland who resigned in 2022 after Moscow’s complete invasion of Ukraine, remarked that the individuals with whom Navalnaya will be collaborating are “fairly authoritarian.”
“All others are required to submit to their claim of being the primary force of the Russian opposition,” he said.
“Navalnaya will be required to draw a delicate, fine line.” “He stated, ‘Let us unite around Alexey Navalny’s memory, but not under his team; rather, organize ourselves in some way around it; that way, all members will contribute and we will be treated equally.'”
However, the current attention Navalnaya is receiving may result in substantial Western contributions that may entice additional opposition activists and leaders to join the cause.
As of now, Navalnaya’s most pressing demand is quite severe: she urged Western nations to disregard the forthcoming Russian presidential election.
Furthermore, she is rapidly amassing substantial support.
She met briefly with US President Joe Biden on February 19, during which he pledged “significant new sanctions” against Vladimir Putin.
The following day, the White House issued a comprehensive list of over 500 sanctions that specifically targeted organizations and individuals involved in the conflict in Ukraine.
