Yulia Navalnaya declares 'you must not be boring to defeat Vladimir Putin and his criminal gang', as Alexei Navalny funeral date announced

Yulia Navalnaya paid tribute to her husband as ‘the opposite of everything boring’

The widow of Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny has called on European nations to “not be boring” in their fight against the Russian president and what she called his “criminal gang”.

In an emotional address to the European Parliament, Yulia Navalnaya said Ukraine’s allies had lost momentum in their appetite to support the country in the war with Russia, and called on Europe to change its attitude towards Mr Putin.

The address was delivered as the funeral of Mr Navalny, who died earlier this month in a remote Arctic penal colony, would take place on Friday in Moscow.

Yulia Navalnaya spoke at the European Parliament on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

Ms Navalnaya said of the Russian president: "You are not dealing with a politician, but a bloody monster. Putin is the leader of an organised criminal gang. This includes poisoners and assassins, but they’re just puppets. The most important thing are those who are close to Putin. You and all of us must fight the criminal gang. Not with political competition, not with diplomatic notes, but investigations into the financial machinations.

She said Mr Navalny had become “the most famous politician” in Russia, despite being barred from traditional campaigning methods such as TV adverts and debates.

"He was able to inspire millions of people with his ideas,” she said. “Even in Putin’s gulag, Alexei managed to pass on ideas for projects that would make the Kremlin panic. He was the opposite of everything boring. This is the answer to the question. If you really want to defeat Putin, you have to become to become an innovator. You are you have to stop being boring.”

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Ms Navalnaya said allies could not defeat Mr Putin with “another resolution or set of sanctions that is no different to the previous one”. “Last Saturday was two years since Putin started his full-scale war against Ukraine, a brutal and sneaky war,” she said.

“The whole world rushed to Ukraine’s aid, but two years passed. There is much exhaustion, much blood, much disappointment and Putin has gone nowhere. Everything has already been used. Weapons, money sanctions, nothing is working. Everyone got used to the war.”

She spoke of the “beautiful future” of Russia, which her husband would not see, and warned that she feared for supporters who would attend Mr Navalny’s funeral.

Mr Navalny, a long-time anti-corruption activist in Russia, had announced his intent to run against Mr Putin in the presidential elections in 2018. However, he was barred from doing so due to a prior criminal conviction for corruption. In 2020, he was hospitalised in Omsk, Russia, on suspicion of poisoning, but survived.

"I thought that in the 12 days since Alexei’s death, I would have time to prepare for this speech,” Ms Navalnaya said. “But first, we spent a week getting Alexei's body and organising the funeral. That funeral will take place the day after tomorrow. And I'm not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or if the police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband.”

She added: "Putin must answer for what he has done with my country. Putin must answer for what he has done to a neighbouring, peaceful country and Putin must answer for what he has done to Alexei.”