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Julija Navalnaya in Munich: “Defeat this evil”
Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
In view of the reports about the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, his wife Yulia Navalnaya has called for a fight against the Russian power apparatus of President Vladimir Putin. "I would like to call on the entire international community, all those in the world who are listening now, to stand together and defeat this evil, this terrible regime that rules Russia today," said Navalnaya in a short-term speech at the Munich Security Conference .
"This regime and Vladimir Putin personally should be held responsible for all the atrocities they have committed in recent years in my country, in our country Russia."
At the same time, the 47-year-old emphasized that she had not yet received any direct confirmation of her husband's death. "I don't know whether we should believe the terrible news we receive exclusively from Russian state sources," she said. »For many years - and of course you know this too - we have not been able to believe Putin and his government. You lie all the time.”
Then she added, visibly tense: "But if it is actually true, then I want Putin and those around him, Putin's friends, his government, to know that they have to answer for themselves. For what they did to our country, my family and my husband. And that day will come soon.”
Strongest Russian opposition figure
Navalny was the most prominent and outspoken opponent of Russian President Putin, serving a 19-year prison sentence in the penal colony in Charp in the Russian polar region. Navalny "felt bad after a walk and almost immediately lost consciousness," said the Russian penitentiary agency FSIN about what happened in the camp. Resuscitation measures were unsuccessful. The cause of the 47-year-old's death is unclear and is still being investigated.
The news of Navalny's death sparked international outrage, with sharp accusations against the Russian leadership from Western countries. (Read the current developments in the live blog here).
aeh/AFP/dpa