By Caroline Kirabo
It should be noted that Navalny, 47, died towards the end of last week while being held in a jail about 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where he had been sentenced to 19 years under a “special regime”.
The widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny on Monday claimed President Vladimir Putin “killed the father of my children,” and “took away the most precious thing that was my closest and most beloved person.”
It should be noted that the fierce Kremlin critic was jailed in 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was being treated after being poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020. On Friday, the Russian prison service said he had died aged 47.
In an 8-minute address posted on Alexey Navalny’s social media accounts, Yulia Navalnaya promised that she would find out who was responsible for his death and that “We will name names.”
She also promised to continue her husband’s work.
“Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul. But the other half of me remains and it tells me that I don’t have the right to surrender,” she said. “No one except ourselves will protect us.”
The death of Navalny, once Putin’s most significant political challenger, is a watershed moment for Russia’s shattered pro-democracy movement, which has largely been jailed or driven into exile since the Ukraine invasion of 2022.
Though Navalny and his many supporters expected he could die behind bars, few thought it would be so soon. Reports of his death sent a shockwave of anger and disbelief through the ranks of his supporters, including his family.
Navalny’s death raises questions about what tools the west still has to constrain or punish Putin, who has faced sanctions since 2022 and has been indicted by the international criminal court for the abduction of Ukrainian children.
Biden in 2021 promised “devastating” consequences for Russia if Navalny were to die behind bars. However, it is not clear what could restrain Putin from a further crackdown on Navalny’s supporters in Russia and abroad.
In his remarks, Biden praised Navalny’s courage and his decision to return to Russia despite facing near-certain imprisonment.
Russia has claimed Navalny died of natural causes. In a statement, the federal penitentiary service for the region where Navalny was incarcerated said he “felt unwell after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness”.
“All necessary resuscitation measures were carried out but did not yield positive results,” the statement said. “The paramedics confirmed the death of the convict.” The Kremlin said Putin had been informed but had no further information.
The cause of death had not been established, the penitentiary service said. Last year Navalny was treated in hospital after complaining of malnourishment and other ailments caused by mistreatment in prison.
It should be noted that Navalny had looked healthy when he appeared by video for a courtroom appeal on Thursday. Speaking from prison, he had complained about the frequent fines he had received while in a punitive cell and asked the judge to send him some money “as my own is running out thanks to your decisions”.