Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, urged Ukrainians to “stop creating an enemy” after Ukrainian activists sounded an air raid alarm simultaneously during her speech at the Lisbon Web Summit on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
As reported by BBC Ukraine, Ukrainian activists also shouted “Stop Russia” and “Stop the war” during Navalnaya’s speech, as the siren from the mobile phones was not loud enough.
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The Ukrainian developer of the “Air Raid” app, who also attended the summit, managed to synchronize the alert to set off simultaneously for all those who wished to participate.
Eyewitnesses said many foreign attendees were in shock when the first air raid sirens began, not understanding what was happening.
Upon hearing the chants, Navalnaya reached for the microphone and said it was hard for her to hear the words from the audience and invited people to come on stage. One activist accepted and asked Navalnaya if she supported Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Later, Navalnaya posted on social media, expressing surprise that a “group of Ukrainian Web Summit participants” asked her if she supported the war against Ukraine.
“Seriously? You’re asking me that?... I’m fighting against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s regime and against the war. I believe these are interconnected things,” she wrote, reiterating her late husband’s anti-Putin and anti-war stance.
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“We have one common enemy,” she added. “And Ukrainians don’t need to create an enemy in the form of the Russian opposition.”
However, the activists said Navalnaya never directly condemned Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, instead she simply reiterated that she opposes Putin’s regime and spoke about her late husband.
“One of us spoke on stage, and our voice was heard. Citizens of the ‘404 country’ should know that they can expect this kind of response anywhere in the world,” one Ukrainian activist said.
Navalnaya, like her late husband Navalny who died in Russian captivity, openly opposes Putin’s policies and war in Ukraine, though her statements elicited mixed reactions among Ukrainians.
In one instance, she expressed her opposition to the war but also stated that she did not wish for Russia’s defeat. Navalnaya also voiced concerns about Western weapons supplies to Kyiv and said that “bombs also hit Russians.” She said that the war is Putin’s personal initiative, not one endorsed by all Russians.
In July 2024, Navalnaya was announced as one of the speakers at the tech conference, whose speech was rumored to be canceled due to Ukrainian opposition. However, on Nov. 11, one day before her speech, Navalnaya’s profile reappeared in the program for two panels. In response, the Ukrainian tech community decided to protest with a flash mob.
Conference organizers invited her as a “powerful voice for democracy and human rights.”
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