Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has declared her intention to return to Russia and pursue a political career once Vladimir Putin is no longer in power. In a recent interview with the BBC, she expressed her commitment to continuing her husband’s legacy.
Navalnaya shared her deep connection to Russia, stating, “I want to live in Russia. I was born in Moscow, and our children were born in Moscow. Of course, it’s not possible while Putin is in power, but I hope that one day this regime will fall, and I will come back.”
She further emphasized her political aspirations, noting, “If I return to Russia, I will run for office as a candidate. My political opponent is Vladimir Putin, and I will do everything in my power to help bring down his regime as soon as possible.”
At 48 years old, Navalnaya criticized the international community’s response to her husband’s tragic death, describing it as “a joke” and urging them to show more courage in confronting Putin’s government.
In July, the Russian government designated her as a “terrorist” and “extremist,” reflecting the regime’s ongoing crackdown on dissent.
Navalny’s posthumous memoir, titled Patriot, is set to be released on Tuesday. The book chronicles his harrowing experience with a nerve agent poisoning in 2020 and his time in a brutal Russian prison camp. Navalny was a prominent opponent of Putin and died in February while incarcerated, a situation that drew international outrage.
