The widow of Alexei Navalny, Yulia, was included in the list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2024 according to the American magazine Time. The publication published an interview with her in English and Russian.
Navalnaya said that she knew about the negotiations about the exchange of her husband. After the death of the oppositionist, his comrades reported that negotiations were under way to exchange Navalny for FSB officer Vadim Krasikov. This was later confirmed by Vladimir Putin. According to Yulia, she did not participate in the negotiations, so she cannot provide details. Navalnaya believes that her husband's death is connected with a possible exchange.
“I think there is a high probability that Putin never intended to release Alexei, from the first day he put him in prison. As soon as he realized that Alexey should be involved in the deal, he immediately decided to kill him,” Navalnaya told Time.
The widow of the oppositionist called “ridiculous” the sanctions that the European Union and Great Britain imposed after Navalny’s death — the restrictions affected judges and employees of IK-3 in Kharp, where the politician died.
“Such sanctions are not only an insult to the memory of Alexei. This also insults the dignity of those who impose these sanctions, because they must understand perfectly well that these officials have never been abroad. And they will never go abroad. <…> Sanctions should be aimed at Putin's friends and members of his inner circle. If you introduce sanctions against these people, they will begin to think that it is Putin who is preventing them from leading a luxurious life and that perhaps they should stop supporting him,” Navalnaya says.
At a meeting with US President Joe Biden, she spoke about creating a working group to impose sanctions against Putin’s inner circle. According to Navalnaya, Biden agreed to the proposal and gave her the contact of an unnamed official.
After the attack on Leonid Volkov in Lithuania in March, Navalnaya got a bodyguard. The widow of the oppositionist said that her colleagues asked her about this. Despite this, Navalnaya repeated several times during the interview that she is not afraid of anything.
“Most of all I want the Kremlin and its officials to understand: if they killed Alexei, then I will take his place. If they do something to me, another person will come. There are a lot of people in Russia who oppose this government, against the regime, and I have no doubt that even if they kill many of these people, others will take their place,” she said.
The text about Navalnaya for Time was written by US Vice President Kamala Harris. She is pleased that the politician's widow has «taken on a leadership role on the world stage.» According to Harris, the United States supports Navalnaya and “everyone who fights for freedom and democracy.”
Yulia Navalnaya entered the top 100 most influential people in the world according to the American magazine TIME
Text US Vice President Kamala Harris wrote for the section about her on the magazine's website
Photo: Kristina Varaksina/TIME pic.twitter.com/NhhFhtZwaR
— Mediazona (@mediazzzona) April 17, 2024