Yulia Navalnaya's X Account Suspended Briefly: Questions Arise About Elon Musk's Stance

The account of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in an Arctic prison, was briefly suspended by X, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, on Tuesday.

A message on Navalnaya's handle stated: "Accounts which violate the X rules are suspended."

Photo Credit: X/@yulia_navalnaya

Yulia Navalnaya's X Account Suspends

Meanwhile, a screenshot of the suspended X account was retweeted by Navalny's spokesperson. However, X restored Navalnaya's account without specifying why it was suspended initially. Elon Musk was mentioned by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation in a post that questioned "exactly which rules were violated" by Navalnaya. X has not issued any statement on the incident thus far.

Elon Musk accused by netizens of siding with Putin

Amidst the widespread dissemination of reports concerning the suspension of Navalny's wife Yulia's X account on social media, many users of the platform questioned Musk's stance regarding the death of the Putin critic and even raised inquiries about "whose side Musk is on".

"One X user wrote: 'Twitter has suspended the account of Alexey Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya. She just created the account yesterday, when she announced she would continue the work of her husband. If you were wondering who's side @elonmusk is on. Now you know.'"

"And that is self-declared free speech absolutist Elon Musk," another user commented. A third user expressed: "Anyone surprised? I am not. Elon long time isn't hiding anymore that he is a Kremlin asset." "Elon preferred to talk about Gonzalo Lira than Navalny's death. No wonder why," another user chimed in.

Navalny's widow calls on Russians to fight against Putin for freedom

Navalny, aged 47, was serving a 19-year prison sentence when he breathed his last on Friday in an Arctic penal colony. Following the announcement of his death, international outrage ensued, with numerous political figures attributing blame to Putin for the passing of the anti-corruption activist.

On Monday, Navalnaya declared that she suspected Putin had assassinated her husband and that she would carry on his battle for a free Russia. Before her account was temporarily suspended, Navalnaya had uploaded a video message in which she blamed Putin for her husband's death and urged Russians to support her in the fight to secure a free Russia.

All the allegations were refuted by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which described the reactions from political figures and world leaders as "self-exposing," considering that no forensic medical study has been made public to date. It was stated by Russia on Monday that "all due actions are being taken" and that an inquiry into Navalny's death is still underway.