President Joe Biden on Thursday met with Yulia and Dasha Navalnaya ― the widow and daughter, respectively, of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny ― to express his condolences after Alexei’s death last week in an Arctic penal colony.
In addition to expressing condolences, Biden praised Navalny’s courage in his struggle against corruption and “for a free and democratic Russia in which the rule of law applies equally to everyone,” according to a White House readout of the meeting.
“The President emphasized that Aleksey’s legacy will carry on through people across Russia and around the world mourning his loss and fighting for freedom, democracy, and human rights.”
Yulia has pledged to carry on her late husband’s cause and slammed Russian authorities this week for refusing to hand over her husband’s body, accusing them of delaying as a means to cover up the cause of his death.
“The main thing that we can do for Alexei and ourselves is to keep fighting,” she said. “Stronger, more fiercely and valiantly that we did before. We all need to get together in one strong fist and strike that mad regime, Putin, his cronies, bandits in epaulets, thieves and killers who mutilated our country.”
The Biden administration is expected to announce “major sanctions” Friday in response to the death, which coincide with the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
