Navalny's widow to meet EU ministers as Russia jails mourners

As Russian courts sentenced hundreds of people caught during ceremonies honouring the Kremlin critic, EU authorities confirmed that Alexei Navalny’s widow will visit European foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

After more than three years in prison, the 47-year-old opposition leader passed away in an Arctic prison on Friday, sparking outcry and condemnation from Western politicians as well as his followers.

Josep Borrell, the head of EU foreign policy, said that Yulia Navalnaya would be welcomed to the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU on Monday.

“EU Ministers will send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia” and “honour” Navalny’s memory, he added on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

More from World

This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal Zohran Mamdani says he would arrest Netanyahu if he is elected as NYC mayor, calls Israeli PM 'war criminal'

Being the most well-known opposition figure in Russia, Navalny gained a large following by opposing corruption under President Vladimir Putin.

Having not seen her husband in two years, Navalnaya claimed she held Putin personally accountable in the hours that followed the news of his death.

In her words, “unite and defeat this evil, terrifying regime” was what the international community needed to do.

Navalnaya’s remarks “will make us feel the threat that weighs on Russian citizens and on every region of our Europe,” according to Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, where “violence, brutality, and war have been shamefully and irresponsibly returned.”

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

Mourners jailed

Russian authorities have suppressed memorials and tributes to Navalny and courts have jailed dozens of mourners.

Rights groups say police have detained more than 400 people at gatherings paying tribute to the opposition figure.

In Saint Petersburg alone, courts handed short jail terms to 154 people detained at events commemorating Navalny in violation of Russia’s anti-protest laws, according to details of rulings published by the city’s court service over the weekend.

Rights groups and independent media outlets reported a handful of similar sentences in other cities across the country.

Anti-Kremlin demonstrations or public shows of opposition to the regime are effectively illegal in Russia under strict military censorship rules and laws against unapproved rallies.

In Moscow, the US ambassador visited a makeshift shrine to Navalny at the Solovetsky Stone on Sunday, a monument to political repression that has become a major site of tributes for Navalny.

At a separate makeshift memorial known as the “Wall of Grief”, a bronze monument to Soviet-era repression, police had set up fences in a bid to ward off mourners.

Several dozen police officers could be seen standing nearby, but some people were allowed to enter through the fence and lay flowers, an AFP reporter saw.

Lula urges caution

While many Western European leaders have directly or indirectly blamed Putin for Navalny’s death, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cautioned against rushing to judgement.

Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa, where he was attending an African Union summit, Lula said it was important to avoid “speculation” and await the results of an autopsy.

“If you judge now and say I-don’t-know-who ordered the killing and it wasn’t them, afterwards you have to apologise. Why the rush to accuse?”

Navalny could have been sick or had a health problem, said Lula, warning against “trivialising” accusations of murder.

Lula has faced criticism for being soft on Putin, his fellow leader in the BRICS group – which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa but was recently expanded to include several other emerging powers.

The Brazilian president has been critical of the US and European responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying Kyiv shares the blame for the conflict and refusing to join international sanctions on Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Western leaders on Friday of “absolutely unacceptable” and “hysterical” reactions to Navalny’s death.

In several cities around Europe, Navalny supporters continued to pay tribute to him Sunday.

In Germany, people laid flowers and candles at a memorial in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin.

In Romania, a similar tribute appeared outside the Russian embassy in Bucharest.