A poignant tribute and strong bitterness.
Yulia Navalnya spoke in Munich on Friday, just after the announcement of the death in prison of her husband, Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny.
The organizers of this annual three-day conference called “Davos of Defense” broke the schedule to allow him to speak.
“I wondered for a long time whether I should come here or fly immediately to my children,” she said to begin her speech, after receiving a standing ovation upon her arrival on stage.
“But then I thought about what Alexei would do in my place.
And I'm sure he would be here, he would be on this stage,” she said.
With tears in her eyes, the one who shared her long and painful battle against the Kremlin took a deep breath.
“If this is the truth, I would like Putin, his entire staff, his entire entourage, his entire government, his friends, to know that they will be punished for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband ".
“That day will come very soon”
“And that day will come very soon,” said Yulia Navalnya, 47, blonde hair gathered, as always, in a tight bun.
With Alexeï Navalny, she experienced the hope of the major demonstrations that he mobilized in Russia, the anguish of a poisoning which he narrowly survived in 2020 and a return to Moscow a few months later, together and with heads held high , before being arrested.
Also read Death of Alexeï Navalny: who was Vladimir Putin's number 1 enemy?
Despite the 19-year prison sentence handed down to him and his terrible conditions of detention, Yulia Navalnaïa remained hopeful.
“I hope and believe that I will see Alexei free.
Nothing is impossible when you are in love,” she told the German daily Der Spiegel last year.
Navalny's last public message is also a love note for Valentine's Day addressed to Yulia: "I feel that you are with me every second."
For her first publication on social networks after the death of her husband, Yulia Navalnya chose a photo where he kisses her on the forehead, with the caption: “I love you”.
Unlike Vladimir Putin, whose private life is a state secret, the couple highlighted their daily family life, making Yulia a public figure, like her husband.
She denounces the “horrible regime” that is Russia
Her speech, after the announcement of her husband's death, established her image as a strong woman.
She also called on the international community and "all the people in this room, people around the world, to unite and defeat this evil, to defeat the horrible regime that Russia is today."
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She concluded by saying that “this regime and Vladimir Putin must take personal responsibility for all the terrible things they have done to my country, to our country Russia, in recent years.
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