Explained | Who Is Yulia Navalnaya, A New Threat To Putin's Power?

As many Russians were still reeling on Monday from the death of Alexei Navalny, news arrived that could offer some comfort.

Three days after the opposition politician was declared to have died in a prison north of the Arctic Circle by Russian authorities, his wife Yulia Navalnaya announced on Monday that she would take up her husband's mission to topple Vladimir Putin's regime.

Photo Credit: PTI

Yulia Navalnaya's First Address After Alenxey's Death

In a YouTube video, it was stated, "By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul. But I still have the other half, and it tells me that I have no right to give up. Alexei Navalny's cause will be continued by me." It was a declaration brimming with passion - and one that undeniably carried political weight reported BBC.

Navalnaya seems to be following the path of Belarus' Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who, following her husband's imprisonment, assumed his role as an opposition figure despite lacking prior experience, swiftly becoming a focal point for protests against the regime led by dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

On the same day that news of Navalny's demise emerged, Navalnaya was captured engaged in deep conversation with Tsikhanouskaya at the Munich Security Conference, sparking speculation about her own intentions. However, Navalnaya's statement on Monday came as a surprise to many - primarily because she had previously dismissed the notion of pursuing a political career.

With a background in economics, she first crossed paths with Alexei during a holiday in Turkey back in 1998. Several years later, after welcoming their first child, daughter Dasha, Navalnaya transitioned into the role of a stay-at-home mother. In the rare interviews she granted, Navalnaya appeared primarily focused on maintaining a sense of normalcy as her husband's prominence grew and the Kremlin's crackdown on him intensified.

"My main task is for our family to stay the same, despite everything," she told Harper's Bazaar. Behind the scenes, however, those who knew the couple well said Navalnaya shared her husband's views and helped shape them.

Yulia Navalnaya's Role Behind the Scenes

Throughout Alexei's career, Yulia has consistently stood by his side, as stated by Anna Veduta, an employee of the U.S. branch of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, Reported Politico. They emphasized that there seemed to be some sort of telepathic connection between the couple, enabling them to think alike without the need for verbal communication.

At rallies and court hearings, Navalnaya was always seen by her husband's side, drawing media attention with her striking physique and composure, despite her expressed desire to avoid the spotlight.

In 2013, when Navalny received his first prison sentence in an embezzlement case his supporters denounced as politically motivated, Navalnaya's response was, "These bastards will never see our tears." Meanwhile, Navalny himself was less private about their family life. He frequently shared photos and videos of their family and openly praised his wife, even crediting her with saving his life after he was poisoned.

His final Instagram post before his death was a Valentine's Day message, expressing yet another declaration of love. The couple's public relationship further highlighted the contrast between Navalny and Putin, who maintains extreme secrecy about his personal life despite being divorced and reportedly having several mistresses and illegitimate children.

However, any opportunity for Navalnaya to remain out of the public eye was shattered after Alexei was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent in the summer of 2020.

She courageously led efforts to have Navalny released from an Omsk hospital for treatment abroad, confronting the media and confronting local medical personnel and unidentified individuals in civilian attire, presumably dispatched by the Kremlin to conceal the poisoning.

Unwavering Support of Yulia Navalnaya

In a YouTube interview from Germany with Russian journalist Yury Dud, it was revealed by Navalnaya that she later told Dud that her main feeling was that she shouldn't relax or show weakness. She expressed concern that if she were to fall apart, everyone else would too.

The impact of her husband's political career on their family, including being tailed, experiencing raids at their home, and having their bank accounts frozen, was described by Navalnaya.

According to an investigation into Navalny's poisoning by Bellingcat, it was revealed that Yulia herself even suffered poisoning effects two months before Navalny fell ill, suspected to be an earlier, botched attempt to target the opposition leader.

Navalnaya continued to support her husband and expressed her belief that it wouldn't be ideal if he quit halfway through. Alexei jokingly referred to Navalnaya as being more "radical" than he was, highlighting their dynamic as a couple.

However, as Navalny recovered, Navalnaya returned to her role as a housewife. In the Oscar-winning documentary "Navalny," she was depicted going for a walk and feeding donkeys with her husband, while their daughter Dasha assisted Navalny in recording Tik-Tok videos for his followers.

Yulia's pursuit of normalcy was once again interrupted when Alexei was arrested at Sheremetyevo airport upon his return to Russia in early 2021. Navalnaya's self-control was praised by supporters of the politician as she bid farewell to her husband at passport control before he was led away.

With Navalny subjected to increasingly harsh conditions in jail, Navalnaya has become increasingly visible on the international stage over the past year. She delivered a speech at the Oscars in March last year and, most recently, in Munich just hours after learning of her husband's death.

Russian state-affiliated media and social media have long sought to undermine Navalnaya, circulating stories about her, including reports of romantic affairs, allegations about her father being a KGB agent, and claims about her alleged German citizenship, all of which have been debunked.

Putin's New Threat: Yulia Navalnaya

Every public performance given by Yulia Navalnaya has faced intense scrutiny in Russian state-controlled media, with commenters accusing her of being too cheerful or acting on the orders of the CIA.

"It is clear that she will be the next target for the Kremlin's smear campaigns," Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer and longtime Navalny employee, said from exile in Berlin, as per the Politico report. "They will try to break her."

Navalnaya was supported by Navalny's closest allies on Monday, with Ivan Zhdanov stating that she had "stepped into his [Alexei's] place." "It was always important for her that the children remained children, that the home remained a home, and the family remained a family," Navalny's ally Veduta expressed. "Now [after Navalny's death] she doesn't have a choice. They are one, she will never retreat or betray his ideals."

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, anticipates that ordinary Russians might be more sceptical. "It will be difficult for her to break through to a Russian audience because of her image as someone who is not just a supporter of liberal Western values, but a figure used by the West to overthrow Putin," she stated. "At home in Russia, that's her curse."

She also cautioned that the comparison with Tsikhanouskaya might not work in Navalnaya's favour, with the exiled Belarus politician seen as essentially powerless. And yet, there are the monumental shoes that Navalnaya is striving to fill. Unlike her husband, Navalnaya is currently outside Russia, which places her beyond the reach of the Kremlin.

"In a sense, Navalny has now been reincarnated in his wife, but unlike Navalny, she is not in Russia," Stanovaya remarked. "For the Russian regime, of course, this is rather bad news."