Wife of the Late Russian Opposition Leader, Navalny: Putin Is Not Our President

JAKARTA - The wife of the late Russian opposition leader Yulia Navalnaya said that Vladimir Putin is not the legitimate president of Russia and she will try to convince world leaders not to sit down to negotiate with him.

In a video message, Navalnaya, wife of the late Alexei Navalny, praised the participation of thousands of people across Russia and abroad in Sunday's daytime protests against Putin's rule.

"We have proven to ourselves and others that Putin is not our president," Navalnaya said in a clip uploaded to her late husband's YouTube channel, reported by Reuters, March 20.

"The election results do not matter. We will ensure that no one in the world recognizes Putin as the legitimate president. No one sits with him at the negotiating table," she said.

It's unclear where the clip was taken. Navalnaya herself took part in Sunday's protest from Berlin.

Incumbent Vladimir Putin won 87.3 percent of the vote and a new six-year term on Sunday, in an election the West said was neither free nor fair, while China, India and a number of other countries congratulated him on his victory.

However, the Kremlin said the election results showed that the majority of Russians had consolidated against him.

Navalnaya said her hopes for Russia's "beautiful future", her husband's phrase, were strengthened by the sight of "courageous, free and honest people" queuing at the polls.

"No amount of intimidation or threats work. You are stronger than them," she said.

However, the election has confirmed Putin's dominance in Russian politics. Russia's opposition is divided on strategy and ideology, while Putin's main surviving opponents are in prison or in exile.

Navalnaya told his supporters not to despair and urged people to spend 15 minutes a day to "fight the regime".

"We need a Russia that is peaceful, free and happy. And we can definitely achieve it if we act together. Don't give up," she stressed.

It is known that shortly before he died in an Arctic penal colony on February 16, Navalny supported the idea of ​​Russians coming out at noon on March 17 to vote against Putin, destroy their ballot papers, or simply express their solidarity with the opposition.

Yulia Navalnaya promised to continue her husband's work. He and Navalny's supporters say Putin is responsible for his death, a claim the Kremlin denies.

Meanwhile, President Putin said on Sunday he had given his consent days before Navalny's death to allow him to be exchanged in a prisoner exchange, on the condition that he never return to Russia.

When asked about the afternoon protest, President Putin said he could only praise what he said was the opposition's call for people to go and vote.