On Monday, the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s widow declared that she will take up her husband’s legacy for a “happy, beautiful Russia” and held President Vladimir Putin accountable for his demise.
Putin “killed the father of my children, Putin took away the most precious thing that was my closest and most beloved person,” Yulia Navalnaya said in an eight-minute video that she put on her late husband’s social media accounts on Monday.
She said that the Russian government was “hiding” Navalny’s body, “lying pathetically,” and waiting for “traces of another of Putin’s Novichoks to disappear” in an effort to hide the reason of his death.
With the news of Navalny’s death, the future of the nation’s opposition movement appears to be in the worst shape in decades. Navalnaya, who has typically shied away from taking on leadership roles in favor of being seen as a supportive wife and mother to their two children, appears to be trying to do so while living in exile. On Monday, she was meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Belgium. Kira Yarmish, the spokeswoman for Navalny, announced on social media that his body will not be released for another 14 days.
In her video, Navalnaya stated, “I will carry on Alexey Navalny’s work,” and then, “I am not afraid, and you don’t need to be afraid of anything.” The speaker addressed the Russian people only, speaking in Russian.