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Navalny’s Widow Navalnaya Calls for Fight for ‘Free, Peaceful’ Russia

RALF HIRSCHBERGER/AFP

Russian opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the late Alexei Navalny, on Sunday urged supporters to fight for a "free, peaceful" Russia, a year after her husband's prison death.

"We know why we are fighting: a future Russia [that is] free, peaceful and beautiful. The one Alexei dreamt of is possible, do everything to make his dream come true," Navalnaya said in a video published on the anniversary of the death of her husband, who was Russian President Vladimir Putin's main political opponent.

Navalnaya has taken on a leading role in the fractured and mostly-exiled Russian opposition.

She was due to attend a memorial event in Berlin on Sunday.

"Everyone can do something: protest, write to political prisoners, change the minds of those close to you, support each other," she said.

"Alexei inspires people throughout the whole world. They understand that our country is not just about war, corruption and oppression."

Navalnaya accused Putin of trying to "erase our memory of Alexei's name, of hiding the truth about his murder and forcing us to give up."

Navalny was declared an "extremist" by Russian authorities, a ruling that remains in force despite his death.

In Russia, anybody who mentions Navalny or his Anti-Corruption Foundation without stating that they have been declared "extremist" is subject to fines, or up to four years in prison for repeated offenses.

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