Russia-Ukraine war: Yulia Navalnaya urges European lawmakers to investigate Putin’s financial links to west – as it happened
Yulia Navalnaya urges European lawmakers to investigate financial flows in the west linked to Putin
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on Wednesday urged European politicians and officials to investigate financial flows in the west linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin and his allies, reports Reuters.
Navalnaya was speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg, 12 days after her husband died suddenly in a Russian penal colony. Reuters report that she was greeted with a standing ovation.
Yulia Navalnaya has addressed the European parliament in Strasbourg, urging European politicians and officials to investigate financial flows in the west linked to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Photograph: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images
“Putin is the leader of an organised criminal gang. This includes poisoners and assassins but they’re just puppets. The most important thing is the people close to Putin – his friends, associates and keepers of mafia money,” she said.
She added:
You and all of us must fight the criminal gang. And the political innovation here is to apply the methods of fighting organised crime, not political competition. Not statements of concern but the search for mafia associates in your countries, for discreet lawyers and financiers who are helping Putin and his friends to hide money.”
Navalnaya has accused Putin of having her husband killed, an allegation the Kremlin has rejected. She has promised to continue his work, urging Russians to share her rage against Putin, and has met western politicians, including US president Joe Biden last week.
In reference to her husband’s funeral, Navalnaya said she was not sure whether the service would be peaceful or whether the police would make arrests.
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