Putin unpredictable, could use nuclear weapon, warns Navalny’s widow

The widow of late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has warned of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unpredictability, saying the possibility of him using nuclear weapons at some point cannot be ruled out.

“We don’t know what to expect from him,” she told dpa. “He probably would.”

She compared the issue to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying she did not expect Putin to attack then, given the strong ties between the two countries. “But he decided to do it. He scares people, keeps them in fear. Nobody knows what Putin will do next.”

Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after illegally occupying Crimea in 2014.

Navalnya said he was not sure whether Putin really had a “strong strategy.”

The Navalnys were the most prominent opposition activists in Russia for many years.

Navalny, a staunch and long-time opponent of Putin, died in a prison camp in Siberia’s Arctic Circle on February 16. It has not been independently established whether the 47-year-old died naturally, as his death certificate says. However, his supporters say he was murdered.

Navalnya also commented on the recent arrests of several suspected Russian spies in Europe, saying that these are yet another sign that Putin has long been waging war in the heart of Europe, using any means necessary.

“Putin didn’t just start it, he’s been doing it all the time. He starts wars, kills his opponents,” she said, adding that their presence is no surprise to her. “I always assumed there were a lot of Russian spies in Europe: Russian spies, that’s obvious.”

Earlier this week, two German-Russian dual nationals were detained in Bavaria for allegedly exploring targets for possible acts of sabotage in Germany for Moscow. Both are now in custody.

In Poland, security agencies arrested a man who allegedly sought to help Russian military intelligence plan an assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Navalnaya said it was a shame that Europe had not recognized the danger posed by Moscow sooner, saying that if the issue had been raised earlier and more often, some wars and some murders could have been avoided.

She reiterated her determination to fight Putin and appealed for the strongest possible support from the West, during the interview at Tegernsee, a lake in the Bavarian Alps, south of Munich.

Navalnya herself is not afraid, she said, despite living with a certain degree of risk, a risk that will increase if she does a good job, she added.

But, she says, she dreams of returning to Russia one day. “I want to live in Russia. My children dream of returning to Russia. I want to go to my husband’s grave. It’s very important to me. And I hope I can do that very, very soon. I dream of going there as soon as possible. “

On Friday, Navalnya received the German Prize for Freedom of the Media, awarded annually at the Ludwig Erhard Summit, an important forum bringing together leading representatives from politics and business.

Navalnaya says she currently does not see a solution to the conflict in Ukraine. “The whole world is trying to find a way to solve this problem,” she said, adding that no one has found a solution.

She said “there will not be a simple solution,” although she hopes for reconciliation between Russians and Ukrainians. “But Putin has put the two countries in a situation where it will be very difficult to build relations.”

She was unable to say when Russia’s opposition to Putin might one day destabilize the president. “I really hope and believe that this happens much sooner than we all hope.” No one knows when and why this might happen, she said.

But many people are tired of war. “They don’t support it, but they are too afraid to say it out loud because it could get them arrested the same day.”

She said she hopes the Russian people do not support new troop deployments. “If the government tries to mobilize more and more people for war, resistance will increase.”

Navalnaya also emphasized that Russia is not Putin. “There are a lot of anti-war activists and anti-Putin activists,” she said. “They need to hear support from the West.”