Navalny’s widow calls for rejection of Russian election results

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, called for the rejection of results for the upcoming elections in her home country in an opinion piece Wednesday. 

“I’m not promising that refusing to recognize the results of the Russian presidential elections this weekend would lead to the instant collapse of the Putin government,” Navalnaya said in the piece in The Washington Post. 

“But it would be an important signal to civil society in Russia and the elites still loyal to Putin, as well as to the world, that Russia is ruled not by a president recognized by all, but by someone who is despised and publicly condemned,” she continued. “Only then will those who remain loyal to Putin start to see that the one way to return to normal economic and political life is to get rid of him.”

Navalnaya’s husband died last month in a remote prison near the Arctic Circle, sparking backlash from world leaders including President Biden, who blamed his death on Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“I call on political leaders of the West to help all Russian citizens who stand up against Putin’s gang. I urge you to finally hear the voice of free Russia and take a principled stand against him — to not recognize the results of the falsified elections, to not recognize Putin as the legitimate president of Russia,” Navalnaya said.

Navalnaya also called for “the maximum expansion and careful enforcement of sanctions against all more or less prominent Putin-allied politicians, so-called businessmen, civil servants and law enforcement officials.”

“By depriving thousands of influential figures of their capital and assets, you lay the groundwork for internal divisions — and ultimately the collapse of the regime,” she continued.

Navalnaya has also called on her late husband’s supporters to protest the Russian presidential election. She told people who are against Putin to get in line at polls on the last day of voting on March 17 in a video address, according to The Associated Press.

“We need to use election day to show that we exist and there are many of us, we are actual, living, real people and we are against Putin. … What to do next is up to you. You can vote for any candidate except Putin. You could ruin your ballot,” Navalnaya said, according to the AP.