Yulia Borisovna Navalnaya (néeAbrosimova; Russian: Юлия Борисовна Навальная, née Абросимова, IPA:[ˈjʉlʲɪjənɐˈvalʲnəjə]; born 24 July 1976) is a Russian
public figure and
economist. The widow of Russian opposition leader
Alexei Navalny, she has been described in media as the "
first lady" of the
Russian opposition. After her husband's
death, Navalnaya announced that she would continue his work.[1]
Early life and education
Navalnaya was born Yulia Borisovna Abrosimova on 24 July 1976 in Moscow,
Soviet Union, in the family of scientist Boris Aleksandrovich Abrosimov (1952–1996) and Alla Vladimirovna Abrosimova.[2] Her mother worked for the Ministry of Light Industry; her parents divorced when Navalnaya was in fifth grade, and her mother married a second time, to an employee of the
USSR State Planning Committee. In 2020, journalist
Oleg Kashin alleged that Navalnaya's father was Boris Borisovich Abrosimov, then serving as secretary of the
Russian embassy in Great Britain, associated with the special services, and that her aunt was Elena Borisovna Abrosimova, one of the authors of the
Russian constitution. In response, Navalny published a death certificate for his father-in-law, dated 1996.[3]
After 2007, Alexei Navalny gained fame in Russia as a blogger and opposition politician. Navalnaya became the first secretary and assistant to her husband. The family's life became noticeably more public, so that Navalnaya was in the spotlight as the "first lady of the Russian opposition".[5] Observers note that she never tried to position herself as an independent figure: Navalnaya always behaves like a devoted wife and companion ("the
Decembrist's wife"), ready for harsh statements and decisive actions if her husband needs it, but not directly related to politics. She spoke at a number of rallies; she called the head of the
National Guard of RussiaViktor Zolotov, who in September 2018 challenged Alexei Navalny to a "duel", as a "thief, coward and impudent bandit".[6][7]
Navalnaya attracted close public attention in the late summer and early fall of 2020, when her husband was urgently hospitalised in
Omsk following a suspected poisoning. She demanded that Navalny be released to Germany for treatment, and even turned directly to Russian president
Vladimir Putin.[8][9][10] After German experts confirmed
Navalny's poisoning, Russian physician
Leonid Roshal said that no poisonous substance was found in Navalny's samples in Russia and suggested creating a Russian-German team on this matter. Navalnaya accused him of acting "not as a doctor, but as the voice of the state."[11][12][13] She followed her husband to Berlin, was next to him at the
Charité hospital, and Navalny later posted a message "Yulia, you saved me".[14]Novaya Gazeta and its audience named Navalnaya its 2020 Hero of the Year.[15] Key European media outlets closely followed her activity and quoted her posts on social networks.[5]
In January 2021, Navalnaya returned to Russia with her husband. After Navalny was detained at the border control, she made a statement that the arrest and the closure of the airport in
Vnukovo were a manifestation of the Russian authorities' fear of Navalny. "Alexei said that he is not afraid", she said. "— And I'm not afraid either. And I urge you all not to be afraid."[16] Later, Navalnaya accused the
security officials of "persecut[ing] [her] as the wife of an
enemy of the people." She wrote on Instagram: "The
Year of '37 has come, and we did not notice."[17][18][19] On 21 January, Navalnaya announced that she would go attend the
2021 Russian protests to demand the release of her husband.[20] On 23 January, she was detained, but released the same evening.[21]
Personal life
In the summer of 1998, while on vacation in Turkey, Navalnaya met Alexei Navalny, a lawyer, also a resident of Moscow. In 2000, she and Navalny were married. She gave birth to a daughter Daria (born 2001) and a son Zakhar (born 2008). She helped her husband's parents in their business related to
basket weaving.[4] After 2007, Navalnaya did not officially work anywhere, calling herself "the main one in matters of everyday life and raising children".[5] In 2000, Navalnaya, together with her husband, joined the
Yabloko party,[4] which she left in May 2011.[22]
On 16 February 2024, the Russian prison service announced that her husband had
died in prison in
Yamalo-Nenets, Alexei is suspected to have been tortured and suspected by his supporters and Western world leaders to have been murdered by prison officials on the eve of him being freed in a prison swap with a German prisoner. Navalny was incarcerated at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle at the time of his death. [23][24] Navalnaya, who had been attending the
Munich Security Conference, subsequently gave a speech in which she stated she was not sure if the reports were true, but commented that if her husband had died, that Putin and his allies "will be brought to justice".[25]
Possible political future
In 2015, Navalnaya was ranked 67th in the top hundred most influential women in Russia by
Echo of Moscow.[26] After Alexei Navalny received a
suspended sentence, the opinion was expressed that Navalnaya could nominate herself for the presidency instead of him. According to Russian public figure
Ksenia Sobchak, in 2018 she offered this option to Navalny, but he rejected it saying "votes are not handed over".[27]
In September 2020, after the poisoning of Navalny, opinions began to appear that Navalnaya was beginning to play an independent political role and might become the "Russian
Tsikhanouskaya" — the leader of the entire opposition.[28][29][30] Political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said that Navalnaya's role has changed: "From the wife of a politician, she is herself becoming a politician"; "she has charisma and charm, and can easily replace her husband if necessary".[31] Political strategist Abbas Gallyamov compared Navalnaya to
Corazon Aquino, the wife of the main opposition leader in the Philippines who opposed the regime of Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator that ruled the Philippines for twenty years.[32][33][34] There are also opinions that such a turn of events is unlikely.[35]
In 2020 Russian writer
Dmitry Bykov said that Navalnaya reminded him of the heroine of
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya: she "faces circumstances stronger than her, but some miracle helps her to defeat the world's evil."[36]
In January 2021, the pro-Kremlin channel
Tsargrad TV threatened to publish intimate files of Alexei Navalny unless Navalnaya promised "not to become Tsikhanouskaya in Russia" and "not to play political games".[37][38]
After her husband's death in February 2024, Yulia published a video online stating that she plans on continuing her husband's political work and asked Russians to rally around her as they did around her husband, saying: "I will continue Alexei Navalny's work … I want to live in a free Russia, I want to build a free Russia."[39] On 28 February 2024, Navalnaya addressed the European Parliament after being invited by EP president
Roberta Metsola. During her speech she accused Vladimir Putin of having orchestrated her husband's murder and said that European leaders need to "stop being boring" and innovate if they want to defeat Putin.[40]
In April 2024, Time Magazine listed her as one of the 100 most influential persons of 2024.[41]
On June 3, 2024 she received the Human Rights Prize from Oslo Freedom Forum on behalf of her late husband. In her speech, she said that "I would wish that this prize was not necessary. But dictators around the world continue killing freedom fighters".[42]
^
abcdCheprasova, Elizaveta (18 January 2021).
"Первая леди оппозиции: что мы знаем о Юлии Навальной" [First Lady of the opposition: what do we know about Yulia Navalnaya]. woman.ru (in Russian).
Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
^Chelishcheva, Vera (26 December 2020).
""Юля, ты меня спасла"" [Yulia, you saved me]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian).
Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.