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The widow of late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has warned of the unpredictability of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the possibility cannot be ruled out that he might use nuclear weapons at some point.
“We don’t know what to expect from him,” Yulia Navalnaya said in an interview. “He probably would do it.”




She compared the question to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying she had not expected Putin to attack back then, given the strong ties between the two countries.
“But he decided to do it. He frightens people, keeps them in fear,” she said. “Nobody knows what Putin is going to do next.”
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after illegally occupying Crimea in 2014.
Navalnaya said she was not sure whether Putin really has a “strong strategy”.
The Navalnys were the most prominent opposition activists in Russia for many years.

Navalny, a long-standing and staunch opponent of Putin, died in a prison camp in the Arctic Circle in Siberia on February 16.
It has not been independently established whether the 47-year-old died naturally, as his death certificate says. However, his supporters say he was murdered.
Navalnaya also commented on the recent arrests of several suspected Russian spies in Europe, saying these are a further sign that Putin has long been waging war in the heart of the continent, using all means necessary.
“Putin did not just start, he has been doing this all along. He starts wars, he kills his opponents,” she said, adding that their presence comes as no surprise to her.
“I always assumed that there were many Russian spies in Europe: Russian spies, that’s obvious.”
Putin did not just start, he has been doing this all along. He starts wars, he kills his opponents
Yulia Navalnaya
Earlier this week, two German-Russian dual nationals were detained in Bavaria for allegedly scouting targets for possible acts of sabotage. Both are now in custody.
In Poland, the security agencies arrested a man who allegedly sought to help Russian military intelligence plan an assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Navalnaya said it was a pity that Europe failed to recognise the danger presented by Moscow sooner, saying if the issue had been raised earlier and more frequently, wars and murders might have been prevented.
She reiterated her determination to fight Putin and called for the strongest possible support from the West, during the interview at the Tegernsee, a lake in the Bavarian Alps to the south of Munich.


Navalnaya herself is not afraid, she said, despite living with a certain degree of risk, which she expects to only grow if she does a good job.
But she dreams of returning to Russia one day. “I want to live in Russia. My children dream of returning to Russia. I want to go to my husband’s grave. It’s very important to me. And I hope that I can do that very, very soon. I dream of going there as soon as possible.”
On Friday, Navalnaya received the German Freedom Prize of the Media, which is awarded annually at the Ludwig Erhard Summit, a forum that gathers top representatives from politics and business.
Navalnaya says she does not currently see a solution to the Ukraine conflict. “The whole world is trying to find a way to solve this problem,” she said, adding that no one has found a solution.
How the US can rush weapons to Ukraine once Congress finally passes new aid
She said there would be “no simple solution”, though she hopes for reconciliation between Russians and Ukrainians. “But Putin has put both countries in a situation where it will be very difficult to build up relations.”
She was unable to say when Russia’s opposition to Putin might one day be able to destabilise the president. “I really hope and I believe that it will happen much earlier than we all expect.” Nobody knows when and why this might happen, though, she said.
But many people are tired of the war. “They are not supporting it but they are very afraid to say it out loud because it could land them in prison that same day.”
She said she hopes the Russian people will not support further mobilisation of soldiers. “If the government tries to mobilise more and more people for the war, resistance to it will increase.”
Navalnaya also emphasised that Russia is not Putin. “There are many anti-war activists and anti-Putin activists,” she said. “They need to hear the support from the West.”


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Vladimir Putin

Unpredictable Putin ‘probably would’ use nuclear weapon, says late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s widow

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting of the country’s Interior Ministry Board in Moscow on April 2. Photo: Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, pictured at the Freedom Prize of the Media awards ceremony in Germany on Friday. Photo: AFP

As Vietnam’s Russian arms supplies dry up, who will it turn to for weapons?

Vietnamese soldiers stand next to missiles on display at the country’s first international defence expo in Hanoi in December 2022. Photo: AFP

Vietnam’s then-President Vo Van Thuong shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Beijing in October last year. Photo: Sputnik/via Reuters

An explosion is seen in the sky over Kyiv on Thursday after a Russian missile strike. Russian arms supplies to Vietnam have dwindled since the war in Ukraine began. Photo: Reuters

A Vietnamese officer tries a weapon at the stalls  of Czech security firms at the Vietnam International Defence Expo 2022 in Hanoi. Photo: Reuters

Russian Su-30MK2 fighter jets of the Vietnam People’s Air Force fly during the Vietnam International Defence Expo 2022 in Hanoi. Photo: EPA-EFE

Asia’s terrorism surge: from Pakistan to Russia, Isis-K awakens sleeper cells – as Chinese interests come under fire

A Russian soldier secures the area as a massive blaze burns in the Crocus City Hall concert venue on March 22 following a deadly attack claimed by Isis. Photo: AP

A combination of pictures shows four Tajik men suspected by Moscow of taking part in the March 22 attack, claimed by Isis, on a concert hall that killed 137 people. Photo AFP

Iranian security personnel guard the area in Kerman in January where two explosions in quick succession struck a crowd marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani. Photo: AFP

Security officials inspect the wreckage of a vehicle carrying Chinese nationals that plunged into a ravine off the Karakoram Highway after a suicide attack on March 26. Photo: AFP

Afghan Taliban fighters man a checkpoint in Kandahar on March 18. Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has been “unable or unwilling” to prevent cross-border militancy, observers say. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ambassadors gather to vote on a resolution during a United Nations Security Council meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York this month. In December, the Security Council called for terrorism monitors to return to Afghanistan. Photo: EPA-EFE

Pancakes and dancing: how Russia and China are trying to take cultural ties to new heights

Partly to break out of isolation from the West, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is now looking to boost cultural exchanges with China. Illustration: Henry Wong

The event was held in the Soviet-style Beijing Exhibition Centre, built in 1954. Photo: Laura Zhou

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping want more cultural exchanges. Photo: AFP

A college fair is held at the Russian Cultural Centre in Beijing in March. Photo: Laura Zhou

Communist Party’s security chief to visit Russia ahead of Putin’s expected China trip as law enforcement ties grow

Chen Wenqing, formerly state security minister, has served as China’s top security official since the country’s 2022 leadership reshuffle. Source: CCTV

Ukraine war: troop losses for Putin’s Russia hit 50,000, BBC report

Destroyed Russian vehicles. Photo: Handout/Russian Defence Ministry/EPA-EFE

News

World

Russia & Central Asia

The Russian president ‘frightens people, he keeps them in fear’, said Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the staunch Putin opponent who died in February
She also commented on the recent arrests of several suspected Russian spies in Europe, saying Vladimir Putin ‘has been doing this all along’


The Russian president ‘frightens people, he keeps them in fear’, said Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the dissident who died in a Siberian prison camp in February, in an interview.


Russia

Ukraine war

War and conflict

Nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)

Unpredictable Putin ‘probably would’ use nuclear weapon, says late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s widow

The Russian president ‘frightens people, he keeps them in fear’, said Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the staunch Putin opponent who died in February She also commented on the recent arrests of several suspected Russian spies in Europe, saying Vladimir Putin ‘has been doing this all along’

The Russian president ‘frightens people, he keeps them in fear’, said Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the staunch Putin opponent who died in February

She also commented on the recent arrests of several suspected Russian spies in Europe, saying Vladimir Putin ‘has been doing this all along’