The widow of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny plans to continue her husband’s work.
Päivi Suikkanen,
I guess Jaskari
Russian opposition leader To Alexei Navalny widow Yulia Navalnaya can rise to a significant position, believes a senior researcher at the Institute of Foreign Policy Jussi Lassila.
The network created by Alexei Navalny has had to operate without a leader since Navalny’s imprisonment.
Lassila, who visited A-studio on Monday, reminds that the opposition movement has lost its spark of hope and its living moral authority. Navalny has now become a martyr.
– Julia Navalnaya’s role as an extension of her husband’s work is understandable and a very potential political symbol. Time will tell if he will be accepted more widely as an opposition activist. I think so.
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalnyi died in captivity in Siberia on Friday, February 16. Widow Yulia Navalnaya has announced that she will continue her husband’s fight for a free Russia.
In Russia, Navalny’s organization is classified as a terrorist organization. At this moment, the opposition’s activities are carried out from abroad.
According to Lassila, the network created by Navalny is the first political movement in Russia’s modern history that was built completely from scratch. At its widest, the network covered the entire territory of Russia.
– The movement has involved several prominent actors who are networked with each other. Unlike the Russian opposition in general, Navalny’s network has been able to be quite united.
Lassila sees that Yulia Navalnaya does not need to take the role of a leader, as if she were a shepherd to the sheep who are waiting for the leader’s orders.
– There is no need for that.
Watch Monday’s A-studio at Areena.