Following the death of Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison last week, his widow and longtime political supporter, Yulia Navalnaya, solemnly vowed on a stage in Munich, "I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny."
Alexei Navalny rose to prominence as President Vladimir Putin's biggest adversary. Going by the pseudonym "Murz" on Telegram, he was an ultra-nationalist commentator who fought alongside Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and participated in Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Navalny allegedly died by suicide in a Russian penal colony following outrage over a post in which he claimed that the Russian army had lost 16,000 soldiers during the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka.
Via video on social media, Yulia Navalnaya announced her intention to "continue the work of Alexei Navalny to fight for our country" and called on supporters to stand with her as she works "to build a free Russia."
As reported by Forbes, Navalnaya also indicated her keenness to confront Putin directly to accuse him of killing her husband. It is an allegation the Kremlin has denied. However, Navalnaya claims that she knew "exactly why" Putin allegedly killed him, adding to her video message, "We will tell you about it soon."
She faces obstacles as to whether she can rally her husband's troops and work with other opposition groups to mount any successful challenge to Putin, who is expected to serve another six years in the Kremlin after the presidential election in March.
Political Landscape:
According to a piece by The Associated Press, Navalnaya has prior experience standing up to Putin. She and Navalny were married for more than 20 years, and she was at his side as he helped lead the biggest protests in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and through subsequent jail sentences.
Navalnaya is unlikely to travel to Russia because of security concerns and now faces a similar issue to that of her husband-- finding a way to lead her husband's organization from exile.
On Friday, after the news of Navalny's death, she met a woman in a similar situation. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya took on the political duties of her husband, Belarusian opposition leader Syarhei Tsikhanouski, after being jailed in 2020 in the run-up to Belarus' presidential election.
"We understood each other without any words," Tsikhanouskaya said about Navalnaya. Tsikhanouskaya said she has no idea about her husband's condition or whether he is dead or alive.
"It's so difficult when you feel such huge pain, but you have to ... give interviews to encourage the democratic world to make decisive actions," Tsikhanouskaya said in an Associated Press interview.
While Navalnaya has dominated headlines since her husband's death, her challenge will be "to stay relevant" when interest inevitably fades, said Graeme Robertson, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The mission ahead of her is demanding, and she will maneuver them while grieving for her husband and fighting for the return of his body.
"By killing Alexei, Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul," she said. "But I still have the other half, and it tells me that I have no right to give up."
