Just a few hours after the announcement of Alexei Navalny’s death, users circulated a photo of his widow posing smiling on a beach next to another man on the Internet, with comments stating or implying that the photo had been taken in recent days and thus accusing her of faking her grief in the public appearances she has made since.
“On the day of Navalny’s death, Yulka (sic), his inconsolable widow, was sitting comfortably on a beach!!” a netizen complained on the X platform.
The photo, accompanied by similar messages, was also widely shared in English, German or Serbo-Croatian on various social media.
But this photo of Yulia Navalnaya is not recent. AFP investigations traced it to the Instagram account of Yevgeny Chitsvarkin, a 49-year-old Russian billionaire.
The latter had published this photo in August 2021, in which he is pictured next to Yulia Navalnaya. “With the first lady of the beautiful Russia of the future @yulia_navalnaya Liberty @navalny!”, he wrote, clarifying that the photo was taken in Jurmala, Latvia.
Co-founder and co-owner of the largest Russian mobile phone company Euroset, Yevgeny Chitsvarkin fled in 2008 to Britain. Accused of kidnapping and embezzlement, he was the target of an international arrest warrant and extradition request until 2011, when Russia ended his prosecution.
In Britain, Yevgeny Chitsvarkin became involved in the wine trade and also became a staunch critic of Vladimir Putin. A friend of Alexei Navalny, he helped him, according to the press, finance his battle and part of his medical expenses after his poisoning in 2020.
The publication of his photo with Yulia Navalnaya three years ago was widely commented on. In an interview with the independent radio station Echo of Moscow (which the Russian authorities closed in March 2022), the businessman had explained, with a touch of irony, the content of the photo: “People are jealous: they too would like to walk on the edge of the sea with Yulia Navalnaya, a beautiful and strong woman, a potential First Lady”.
“Unfortunately, Alexei was imprisoned, but she, no one has imprisoned her”, he still said.
Yulia Navalnaya is a regular target of rumors aimed at defaming her or her late husband. Internet users have also accused the 47-year-old woman of being a “political escort”, using a photo of her with Yevgeny Chitsvarkin and the testimony of a woman posing as her former aide.
The claim was relayed primarily by the website pravda-fr.com, which is part of a “structured and coordinated” network of 193 sites relaying Russian propaganda in Europe and the United States, according to Viginum, the French anti-foreign digital watchdog. interventions.
Other accounts on the Internet reposted photos from accounts of the hotel reservation site Booking to support their claims.
But according to Elliott Higgins, founder of digital investigative media outlet Bellingcat, the document on display was a fake.
In a video released on February 19, Yulia Navalnaya vowed to continue her husband’s fight against Vladimir Putin and called on his supporters to fight with her.
“Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband Alexei Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children (…) By killing him, (Putin) wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future,” said Yulia Navalnaya.
“I will continue the work of Alexei Navalny. I will continue for our country, with you. And I invite you all to stand close to me (…) it’s a shame to let ourselves be afraid”, she emphasized with her blonde hair gathered as always in a tight bun.
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