Ioulia Navalnaïa, widow of Alexeï Navalny who died in prison in February, is accused of “participation in an extremist group”. On Tuesday July 9, Russia announced the issue of an arrest warrant for this exiled opponent

“Yulia Borissovna (Navalnaya) has escaped the preliminary investigation and is therefore now wanted,” said the Moscow courts press service on Telegram.

Moscow’s Basmanny court also ordered Navalnaya, who lives abroad, to be held in custody in absentia.

Yulia Navalnaya vowed to continue the fight of her husband, Vladimir Putin’s main opponent, after his death in February 2024 in murky circumstances in an Arctic prison.

In Moscow, Alexei Navalny’s supporters answered his widow’s call to vote against Vladimir Putin. Most of Putin’s leading opponents are now in prison.

Continuing her husband’s work, she urged supporters to keep hope alive, and regularly denounces the Russian regime and the fate of dissidents on social networks

Leonid Volkov, Alexei Navalny’s former right-hand man and also in exile, ironically welcomed the Russian court’s decision on Tuesday: “A fine recognition of Yulia’s determination to continue Alexei’s fight,” he wrote on X.

Repression in Russia in recent years has driven almost all leading opponents behind bars or into exile. Thousands of ordinary Russians have also been arrested for their protests or criticism of the offensive in Ukraine, many receiving heavy sentences.