Ukrainian demonstrators shout over Yulia Navalnaya’s Lisbon speech against Western big tech’s collaboration with Russia

Ukrainian activists tried to disrupt a speech by Yulia Navalnaya on Tuesday at the Web Summit 2024 IT conference in Lisbon. During remarks by the widow of opposition leader Alexey Navalny, demonstrators triggered air horns and chanted “Stop Russia!” and “Stop the war!” in English. 

Navalnaya’s speech was titled “Dictators and Digital Dissent,” after which she joined a discussion on “Confronting Autocrats.” In her remarks, she criticized Western tech companies for “aiding dictators by blindly following insane repressive laws.” 

While the activists claim to have halted Navalnaya’s speech, her team says she finished before leaving the stage. 

Afterward, Navalnaya said she invited one of the protesters to the stage to ask her a question. When asked if she supports the war against Ukraine, Navalnaya said she and her late husband opposed the invasion from the start along with the Putin regime. “I’ve said it many times, just as I’ve said that we have a common enemy. Ukrainians don’t need to invent an enemy in the Russian opposition,” Navalnaya argued.

The Web Summit has been held since 2009 and is now one of the largest tech conferences in the world. Past speakers included figures like scientist Stephen Hawking and billionaire Elon Musk. 

Navalnaya and her associates were also in Lisbon to attend the unveiling ceremony of a memorial to Alexei Navalny, unveiled near the local Russian embassy.