Putin critic Alexei Navalny’s widow in Time’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ list

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has been named on Time magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

In an interview with Time – the first since her husband’s death in February – Navalnaya (47), said she chose to take the plunge into politics to give hope to her husband’s supporters and that resistance against President Vladimir Putin will continue.

Speaking about her decision to enter politics, Navalnaya said, “(Alexei and I) did not talk about (me going into politics). I just thought that this shouldn’t be allowed to happen. If they think they can kill Alexei and that’s the end of it, they are wrong,” The Moscow Times reported.

On February 16, Navalny, a vocal critic of Putin, died after he collapsed and lost consciousness at an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a long jail term. Critics and Russian opposition leaders have alleged Putin’s hand in Navalny’s death.

Navalnaya criticised the Western leaders for not taking enough action to sanction Putin’s wealthy inner circle. She also called the Russian President a “gangster” and not a politician.

“Such sanctions really hit Putin’s power, whereas the sanctions that affect random people, like the ones that the EU and the UK imposed after Alexei’s killing, They are quite laughable. These are sanctions against the rank and file,” she said.

“The problem is that the West thinks of Putin as a politician. But he has long ceased to be a politician. He is the head of an organised crime group. All of his inner circle are criminals. They have committed war crimes, violated laws, stolen a whole lot of money from the people of Russia, all while keeping the people of Russia in poverty,” she added.

Last month, Navalnaya urged thousands of Russians to visit polling stations and embassies on the final day of Russia’s presidential election to show their resistance to Putin, who won an unprecedented fifth term, The Moscow Times reported.