Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, said she will continue her late husband’s work in a video statement released Monday.
“There should have been another person in my place, but this person was killed by Vladimir Putin,” Navalnaya said, referring to her husband.
“I have no right to give up. I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny. I will continue to fight for our country and I urge you to stand next to me,” she continued.
“Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband Alexei Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children. Putin took away the most precious thing I had. Putin took away the closest and most beloved person.”
“Putin killed not just the man Alexei Navalny, he wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future,” Navalnaya said, adding: “Today I want to be with you because I know that you have lost no less than I have lost.”
Navalny, who was one of President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal domestic opponents, died on Friday at an Arctic penal colony where he was being held on “extremism” charges, which were widely seen as revenge for his political activism.
His mother and lawyer were told on Saturday that he died of “sudden death syndrome” — a vague term with no specific medical meaning. They have still not been granted access to his body.
In her video statement on Monday, Navalnaya also said that the deceased Kremlin critic’s team knows “why exactly Putin killed Alexei three days ago” and promised to release details soon.