Putin critic Alexey Navalny’s widow urges Americans not to take democracy for granted

(NEW YORK) — Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, says she wants Americans to cherish their democracy as they prepare to vote in the 2024 presidential election.

“I would say to American voters, don’t take everything like granted,” Navalnaya told ABC’s The View in an interview airing Thursday. “You are still living in democratic country and I still believe in American institutions and just make the right choice.”

Navalnaya spoke to The View for the launch of a memoir written by her late husband, Russia’s most famous pro-democracy campaigner and President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest opponent. He died in prison in February and the book, titled “Patriot,” was mostly written while he was detained.

You can watch The View interview with Yulia Navalnaya on ABC at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 24.

Navalnaya did not express a preference for Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump to win the election. However, her husband expressed alarm about the possibility of a second Trump presidency in a letter written from prison.

“Trump’s agenda and plans look truly scary. What a nightmare,” Navalny wrote to his friend, the photographer Yevgeny Feldman, who shared the letter from December 2023.

Navalny died suddenly in a prison camp in the Russian Arctic in February. Russian authorities claimed the 47-year-old died from natural causes, but his family and supporters accused the Kremlin of murdering him.

In September, independent Russian investigative news outlet The Insider said it obtained the police report into Navalny’s death. It reportedly stated that, in the minutes before he died, Navalny had suffered a “sharp pain” in his stomach, vomiting and convulsing on the floor.

In the final version of the police report, the description of Navalny’s symptoms as described in the initial report — all strongly suggestive of a possible poisoning — had been left out, according to The Insider.

Navalny was imprisoned in January 2021 after deciding to return to Russia, despite his near-fatal poisoning with a nerve agent months earlier. He was arrested on arrival at the airport in Moscow and sentenced to 19 years, on charges widely condemned as politically motivated.

Married to Navaly for 24 years, Navalnaya worked closely with him before his death but largely remained out of sight. Since his death, she has stepped forward to fill his place as an opposition leader. She leads his organization, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and campaigns internationally for greater efforts to punish Putin’s regime.

“When he was killed, it was very important for me to show that even they are ready to kill the person, to kill our opposition leader. He wasn’t just my husband, he was very close friend,” she told The View. “He was leader whom I supported and it was very important for me to show that we’ll continue our fight. And to remind the world about him.”

Navalnaya also told the panelists that she’s certain the full story of how her husband died will be revealed, noting that the Anti-Corruption Foundation was working to make it happen.

She was unable to attend her husband’s funeral in March — which was held under intense restrictions in Moscow — because she faced possible detention. A Russian court in July ordered her arrest on extremism charges.

Navalnaya is undeterred by possible threats to her well-being , she told The View panelists.

“I hope it never happens, but if something will happen with me, there will be other people, and there will be people who [will be] fighting with Putin’s regime for many years,” she said.

Despite the dangers to him, Navalnaya said they both wanted Navalny to return to Russia, hoping to encourage people in their country to “not be afraid.”

“There are a lot of people in Russia against Putin’s regime,” she said. “Of course, it was an option to stay somewhere abroad in exile. But when I think about it, I’m thinking that he would be unhappy.”

In his book, Navalny expressed his belief that he would never be released while Putin’s regime remained and that authorities would likely poison him.

He also wrote about the harsh conditions in prison and his conviction that returning to Russia was worthwhile despite his imprisonment. He also recounted one of Navalnaya’s visits in the early days of his time in prison, during which they accepted that he would likely die in detention.

“It was one of those moments when you realize you found the right person. Or perhaps she found you. Where else could I ever have found someone who could discuss the most difficult matters with me without a lot of drama and hand-wringing?” he wrote. “She entirely got it and, like me, would hope for the best, but expect and prepare for the worst. I kissed her on the nose and felt much better.”

Navalnaya told The View that the thing she misses most in the wake of her husband’s death is coming home and spending evenings talking with him.

“I probably miss evenings. When you come back home,” she said. “I’m sitting here speaking with you and I want to come back home and to share this with him and to discuss it. And all these, you know, very ordinary things, of course I miss a lot.”