‘I hope she breaks free from the electoral fixation’: Russian public figures react to Yulia Navalnaya’s statement on future presidential run
Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, announced in an interview aired Monday that she’s prepared to run for president herself if she ever returns to Russia. “My political opponent is Vladimir Putin. And I will do everything to make his regime fall as soon as possible,” Navalnaya told the BBC. The statements sparked controversy among pro-Kremlin propagandists and Putin critics alike, with figures in both camps asserting that Navalnaya has no support base in Russia and was speaking primarily with Western leaders in mind. Meduza has translated a selection of these reactions, which were originally compiled by Radio Svoboda.
Putin supporters
Aleksandr Kots
Russian propagandist
After two and a half years of the special military operation, are there still people in the country who would vote for her? Or is Navalnaya hoping the West will orchestrate a Maidan [Revolution] for her? Well, you can’t fault her for dreaming.
Nadana Friedrichson
Pro-Kremlin propagandist
There are two possibilities here. The first is that Navalnaya needed to show that she’s not just wandering around Europe and can actually do some work. But if that’s the case, she was just saying this for the sake of saying it.
Then there’s the second possibility. It’s more complicated, but also more foolish.
In this scenario, they’re going to keep Navalnaya around and support her until the next presidential elections in Russia. But either they don’t understand, or they haven’t noticed yet: Russia’s political system has been rebuilt. And a “Gorbachev 2.0” option is impossible.
So the most they’ll be able to squeeze out is a rehash of the situation with [exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana] Tsikhanouskaya. People like [writer and political satirist Viktor] Shenderovich will be posting all over Facebook, shouting that Yulia is his president. And even that isn’t certain — it seems that [opposition politician Maxim] Katz has become dearer to him.
Marina Akhmedova
Propagandist, editor-in-chief of the pro-Kremlin outlet Regnum, member of Russian Presidential Human Rights Council
I’m afraid that everyone who supports “candidatesses,” “authoresses,” “reporteresses,” and “curatoresses” has left Russia and become an “emigrantess.” President Navalnaya can only become the “presidentess” for these people — those in exile.
Sergey Markov
Pro-Kremlin political commentator
Yulia Navalnaya is a smart and educated woman, and she’s focused not on politics at all, but rather on her private life. Her children, her personal romantic life, and social pleasures. Her sponsors occasionally ask her to make political statements, and she does what they ask, essentially earning the right to have the funds to support her children and lifestyle. Over time, this will fade, partly because her sponsors will accept the fact that turning her into a politician isn’t going to work.
Opposition figures
Igor Drandin
Exiled Russian opposition politician
Sure, Yulia — the people who stayed in Russia will depose Putin, carry out reforms, bring back fair elections, repeal repressive laws, create independent courts, get rid of propaganda, and disperse the security forces. And then you’ll ride in on a white horse, with medals and money from [bankers Alexander] Zheleznyak and [Sergey] Leontiev, straight into the election and then to the Kremlin.
Ruslan Gabbasov
Exiled Bashkir opposition activist
Yulia Navalnaya — who has never been a politician, never presented any political projects, and never fought against the government, but was simply the wife of such a politician — has decided she wants to rule Russia.
I’m generally not opposed to it; let the Russian chauvinists recognize her and choose her as their president. But in that case, we need to call things what they are: ‘Yulia Navalnaya wants to run for president of Muscovy.’ Then everything will fall into place. For Bashkortostan, this has no significance at all, nor will it in the future. We’re on our own, and the Muscovites are on their own.
The funniest part is that Yulia Navalnaya has no influence among the population in Russia. Just zero. Like similar figures, such as [exiled politicians Ilya] Yashin, [Vladimir] Kara-Murza, [Andrey] Pivovarov, and so on. Those living abroad today will likely play no part in the politics of post-Putin Russia. The same goes for me. There’s a high probability that when the irreversible processes of a change of power begin in Bashkortostan, completely new political figures will emerge who we don’t know anything about yet. This has usually been the case in the past. But as they say, Allah knows best!
Ivan Preobrazhensky
Political analyst
In recent interviews, Yulia Navalnaya has said that if she’s able to return to Russia, she’ll participate in the presidential elections. This is happening at a time when even the authorities understand that elections are discredited in the eyes of the public due to Putin’s “special electoral operation” in March 2024, when he killed Alexey Navalny and then reappointed himself.
So who is Yulia Navalnaya’s message intended for? Not Russians — that’s an illusion. Apart from a narrow circle of political activists, the population finds the word “elections” more nauseating than ever before. If Yulia Navalnaya simply spoke about being ready to fight for power, she would be much better understood.
Instead, she’s obviously addressing Western leaders in a language they understand, hoping to gain legitimacy as the leader of the opposition. But while they may grant her legitimacy, they can just as easily “revoke” it if she lacks a real base.
A real base could come from either support from Ukraine (which is currently less than it was in, say, the spring of 2024, but still possible) or a noticeable increase in sympathy within Russia. Pakistan, India, and even Burma have shown examples of this.
This would allow her to engage with Western politicians from other positions, so that they would come to her offering support, rather than her having to ask for it.
That’s a sober analysis of the situation. On the emotional side, I want to support Yulia Navalnaya in every way possible, as she lost her loved one and is now forced to bear a heavy and very dangerous burden. And I hope she breaks free from the electoral fixation that’s become a curse for Navalny’s team.
Kirill Shulika
Journalist
As for the statements from Yulia Navalnaya (who’s been placed on Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists) regarding her participation in Russia’s presidential elections and many other topics, it’s all very dull and bland.
Navalny’s memoirs are coming out, and they need to be sold and monetized. I don’t see anything wrong with that — books are a business, like any other. That’s why it’s important for everyone to know about the books; it requires being at the center of attention.
The reason everything feels so boring and bland is that our émigrés are just like the top students in Soviet schools: they do everything strictly by the book. They’ve memorized the textbooks and are just regurgitating them, without any creative interpretation.
Ksenia Larina
Journalist
Yes, this interview is timed to coincide with the book release. This isn’t a political interview; it’s an interview with a politician’s wife. It’s an interview with the widow of a murdered politician. An interview with a woman who knows exactly who killed her husband. And she repeatedly names the murderer: Vladimir Putin.
Can this interview be seen as a political manifesto? Of course not. There’s almost no mention of the war. No mention of Putin’s war crimes. No mention of Putin’s crimes against his own people. No focus on the “here and now.” She talks about goals and dreams, but not about opportunities and resources. There’s talk of the millions of people remaining in Russia and the theory of small deeds, but not of the reasons for society’s degradation or the total moral corruption.
And when Yulia says that Putin’s been in power for 25 years and nothing has changed, it’s hard not to argue that, in fact, a lot has changed. :(
But she did make very accurate comments to the West — which continues to fear Putin and expects “even worse things” from him — about how it needs to stop being afraid and trembling before this man who revels in the world’s reactions. She said that one day Putin will end up in prison, and that she hopes he finds himself not in a comfortable, clean cell with full amenities and good food, but rather in the same kind of place where her husband, Alexey Navalny, suffered and died.
