The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday the scale of public support for him since his death was proof that his cause lived on, and called for a massive election day protest against President Vladimir Putin.
In a YouTube video, Yulia Navalnaya said she had drawn hope from the huge crowds that turned out last week for the funeral of her husband, who died in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16.
Since his burial, supporters have submerged his grave in a sea of flowers.
“Looking at you, I am convinced that everything is not in vain, and this thought gives me strength,” she said.
“Now you all know that there are actually a lot of us, all those who love and support Alexei, who share his ideas and, as long as we have each other, it’s not over.”
Navalny, in one of his last public messages, had urged people to protest against Putin by voting en masse at noon local time in the March 17 presidential election, forming large crowds and overwhelming polling stations.
