“I want to be the next Russian president”
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has clearly stated her goal: she wants to become Russia's next president to succeed Vladimir Putin. So writes BBC after an interview with the 48-year-old Russian from Moscow.
Yulia Navalnaya knows she could be arrested if she returns home to Russia while President Putin is still in power. After all, his government has accused her of participating in extremism. And that can invariably lead to death in Russia.
Alexei Navalny died in February in a penal colony in the Arctic Circle. U.S. President Joe Biden said there was “no doubt” about Putin's guilt. But Russia, of course, denies Navalny's murder.
The murder of her husband has given Yulia an unquenchable motivation to grant Russians a peaceful and better future. But for that, of course, Putin's regime must fall first, Yulia also realizes.
While launching “Patriot,” the memoir her husband was writing before his death, Yulia Navalnaya reiterated her plans to continue his fight for democracy. When the time comes, “I will participate in the elections as a candidate,” she told the BBC. “My political opponent is Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything to overthrow his regime as soon as possible.”
Yulia is therefore looking forward to the day that she believes will inevitably come, when the Putin era ends and Russia opens up again.
(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: BBC/Illustration picture: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)