Hours after Russia announced the death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, his wife appeared at an international conference and urged the world to stand against Vladimir Putin.
Yulia Navalnaya was in Germany for the Munich Security Conference when Russia announced that Navalny — a chief critic of Vladimir Putin — died in an Arctic prison.
Navalnaya said she couldn’t confirm the “horrific news” and warned that Putin’s government is “lying constantly.”
But she said if her husband is really dead, Putin and his inner circle won’t go unpunished.
She urged the international community to unite against Putin’s government — which has invaded Ukraine and, according to reports, is now considering violating a key treaty to put nuclear weapons in space.
“We should come together and fight against this evil. We should fight against this evil regime in Russia today.”
Navalnaya said she thought about going back to her children after Russian state media said Navalny collapsed on a walk at the prison and died.
“Then I thought, ‘What would Alexei have done in my place?'” she said. “And I’m sure that he would have been standing here on this stage.”
Navalnaya got a standing ovation from the diplomats gathered at the conference.
Navalny survived a poisoning attempt in 2020 and returned to Russia in 2021, where he was immediately arrested.
He was jailed on corruption charges, which many saw as punishment for opposing Putin. He was serving a three-decade-long prison sentence.
