Her remarks, part of an 8-minute address shared on her husband’s social media platforms, referenced “traces of another of (President Vladimir) Putin’s Novichoks’s to disappear”.
The widow of the late Russian opposition leader claimed Putin “killed the father of my children”, and “took away the most precious thing that was my closest and most beloved person”.
Yulia Navalnaya promised that she would find out who was responsible for his death and that “We will name names.”
She also promised to continue her husband’s work.
“Putin killed half of me, half of my heart and half of my soul. But the other half of me remains and it tells me that I don’t have the right to surrender,” she said, adding, “No one except ourselves will protect us.”
Novichok, which means “newcomer” in Russian, was first developed in secret by the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the 1980s, as a means of countering US chemical weapons defenses. Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he had been treated after being poisoned with Novichok. On arrival, Navalnvy was swiftly arrested on charges he dismissed as politically motivated.
Its existence remained secret until the mid-nineties when information regarding its production was revealed as part of a deliberate leak by disgruntled Soviet scientist and whistle-blower Vil Mirzayanov. Even today, no country outside of Russia is known to have developed the substance.
The Russian prison service announced Navalny died on Friday. The cause of his reported death remained unclear. Within hours, multiple Western public figures, including national leaders, blamed the Russian government for it. Some called out Putin personally in their statements. No autopsy results have been released so far.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday the death of Navalny in the Arctic prison where he was held is being investigated as required by law, regardless of Western reactions to the event.
In the absence of factual information “we believe such uncouth remarks absolutely unacceptable”, Peskov stated.
”They can hardly harm our head of state, but they definitely give no credit to those who deliver such statements,” he added.
