Yulia Borisovna Navalnaya is a Russian public figure, economist and the wife of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
13 Facts About Yulia Navalnaya
2.
Yulia Navalnaya has been described in media as the "First Lady" of the Russian opposition.
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Yulia Navalnaya's mother worked for the Ministry of Light Industry; her parents divorced when Navalnaya was in fifth grade, and her mother married a second time, to an employee of the USSR State Planning Committee.
4.
Yulia Navalnaya became the first secretary and assistant to her husband.
5.
The family's life became noticeably more public, so that Yulia Navalnaya was in the spotlight as the "first lady of the Russian opposition".
6.
Observers note that she never tried to position herself as an independent figure: Yulia Navalnaya always behaves like a devoted wife and companion, ready for harsh statements and decisive actions if her husband needs it, but not directly related to politics.
7.
Yulia Navalnaya spoke at a number of rallies; she called the head of the National Guard of Russia Viktor Zolotov, who in September 2018 challenged Alexei Navalny to a "duel", as a "thief, coward and impudent bandit".
8.
Yulia Navalnaya attracted close public attention in the late summer and early fall of 2020, when her husband was urgently hospitalized in Omsk, Russia on suspicion of poisoning.
9.
Yulia Navalnaya demanded that Navalny be released to Germany for treatment, and even turned directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
10.
In January 2021, Yulia Navalnaya returned to Russia with her husband.
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In 2015, Yulia Navalnaya was ranked 67th in the top hundred most influential women in Russia by Echo of Moscow.
12.
Political analyst Konstantin Kalachev said that Yulia Navalnaya's role has changed: "From the wife of a politician, she is herself becoming a politician"; "she has charisma and charm, and can easily replace her husband if necessary".
13.
In January 2021, the pro-Kremlin channel Tsargrad TV threatened to publish intimate files of Alexei Navalny unless Yulia Navalnaya promised "not to become Tsikhanouskaya in Russia" and "not to play political games".