Alexei Navalny’s widow just attacked Vladimir Putin in front of the European parliament, calling him a “bloody monster”.
Addressing the European parliament on Wednesday, Yulia Navalnaya accused the Russian president of killing her husband, saying he was “tortured for three years” on Putin’s orders.
Navalny was a prominent critic of Putin and the Kremlin.
He died under mysterious circumstances while serving a lengthy prison sentence – on charges widely seen as politically motivated – in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month.
His widow warned MEPs: “You cannot stop Putin with another resolution or another set of sanctions that are no different from the previous ones.
“You cannot defeat him by thinking he is a man of principle, who has morals and truths.
“He is not like that. Alexei realised that a long time ago.
“You are dealing with a politician, but with a bloody monster. Putin is the leader of an organised criminal gang.”
At this point, her voice started to break, and she had to take a moment to compose herself, while MEPs applauded her.
She continued: “In this fight, you have reliable allies. There are tens of millions of Russians who are against war, against Putin, against the evil he brings.
“We must not persecute them. On the contrary, you must work with them – with us.”
She called for European leaders to “stop being boring” when it comes to thinking of ways to defeat Putin, and described her late husband as an “innovator” in encouraging resistance to the Russian president.
Navalnaya also claimed Putin “killed” Navalny, because he was “starving and cut off from the outside world” stuck in a “tiny cell”, and prohibited from having any visits, phone calls or letters.
“And then they killed him. Even after that, they abused his body and abused his mother,” she claimed, alluding to the difficulties her family has faced in retrieving Navalny’s body.
She added that Putin must “answer” for the war in “neighbouring, peaceful” Ukraine – and her late spouse’s death.
Navalny’s funeral is set to be held on Friday in Moscow, according to his spokesperson.
It comes the Kremlin critic’s team said they were struggling to find a venue to host his farewell ceremony.
His spokesperson Kira Yarmysh claimed some venues even refused to mention Navalny’s name.
Navalnaya also voiced her fears about the funeral to MEPs, saying she’s not sure if police “will arrest those coming to say goodbye to my husband”.
Navalnaya then made it clear she wants to continue her husband’s legacy.
She promised: “I will do my best to make his dream come true. The evil will fall, and the beautiful future will come.”