Alexei Navalny’s wife has said she does not know whether to believe he is dead – but that President Putin and his regime must be held accountable if it is true.
Yulia Navalnaya was speaking at the Munich Security Conference hours after Russian authorities said the 47-year-old had died in prison.
She said she did not know whether to still speak or fly to her children, but that she asked herself what her husband would have done.
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“I’m confident he would be here on this stage,” she told the audience.
Mrs Navalnaya said she was unsure whether Friday afternoon’s statement from the prison service was true.
“I don’t know whether to believe or not this terrible news that we only receive from Russian government sources,” she said.
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“For many years we cannot trust Putin and the Putin government. They always lie.”
The prison service said Mr Navalny – for years President Putin’s most outspoken opponent – died after going on a walk and feeling unwell.
He was imprisoned in the Arctic Circle after being convicted of multiple charges – most recently getting another 19-year sentence in August.
Mr Navalny nearly died in 2020 when he was poisoned with novichok and became unwell on a flight.
However, he eventually returned to Russia to continue his campaigning against corruption and authoritarianism.
Mrs Navalnaya added: “If this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family, and to my husband.
“And this day will come very soon.
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“I want to call on the international community, everyone in this room, and people around the world to unite and defeat this terrible regime in Russia.
“That regime and Putin have to be personally liable for all the horrible things are doing to my country, our country Russia, in these last years.”
She was given a standing ovation as she left the stage.
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Yulia Navalnaya’s call for justice has been echoed by the likes of Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron.
Writing on X, he said: “Putin’s Russia fabricated charges against him, poisoned him, sent him to an arctic penal colony & now he has tragically died.
“Putin should be accountable for what has happened – no one should doubt the dreadful nature of his regime.”
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was “obvious” Mr Navalny was killed by the Putin regime.
America’s top diplomat Antony Blinken said “Russia is responsible for this” and that he would be talking to other countries about the matter.
President Putin does not tolerate meaningful criticism or dissent, meaning there is no effective political opposition within Russia.
Others to speak out have suffered unfortunate fates and he is certain to easily win next month’s presidential election.
