‘We Are Fighting for a Better Future.’ Yulia Navalnaya Discusses Her Human Rights Advocacy

Since Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition leader and critic of the country’s President Vladimir Putin, died in prison in February 2024, his widow Yulia Navalnaya has become a renowned advocate for human rights around the world.

At the TIME100 Summit on April 23, she discussed the dangers that she faces doing her work as chair of the Advisory Board of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and chair of The Human Rights Foundation.

Speaking with TIME Senior Correspondent Simon Shuster, Navalnaya shared what it’s like running an organization in exile in Lithuania, emphasizing her drive to protect opponents of Putin like her husband.

“It's not possible for me to go back to Russia anymore,” she said. “[But] we know that we are fighting for a better future for our country. We are fighting against this regime, which kills their political opponents, which starts wars, which keeps a lot of people in fear.”

Navalnaya also talked about the relationship between Russia and the U.S. She said she’s alarmed by the way that Trump appears to be treating Putin as an “equal,” because Trump “was elected in democratic elections, and Putin was not.” She called on the Trump Administration to show that “it is much stronger than Vladimir Putin and that they are not equal presidents.”

Read more: https://time.com/collections/time100-...

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