MOSCOW: Jailed Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin vowed on Tuesday to continue fighting for democracy in Russia after learning his friend and colleague, Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, had died in prison.
The death of President Vladimir Putin’s top enemy last week triggered a flurry of outrage and raised fears for Navalny allies and other Kremlin critics imprisoned in Russia.
“As long as my heart beats in my chest, I will fight tyranny. As long as I live, I will fear no evil,” Yashin said in a post on social media, communicated through his lawyer.
Yashin was jailed for eight and a half years in December 2022, for spreading “false” information about the Russian army, under legislation criminalizing criticism of the Ukraine offensive.
“Of course, I understand the risks I face. I’m behind bars. My life is in Putin’s hands and it’s in danger,” he said.
Yashin was an ally of Navalny’s and close to Boris Nemtsov, another opposition politician who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015.
“We shared a common cause and dedicated our lives to making Russia peaceful, free and happy. Now both my friends are dead,” Yashin said.
He said he learned the news of Navalny’s death in his prison near Smolensk in western Russia and — like much of the opposition — laid blame on the Kremlin.
“In Putin’s understanding, this is how power is asserted — through murder, cruelty and demonstrative revenge,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to say how Putin — who has not commented on the death — reacted to his main opponent dying.
Peskov also said an investigation into Navalny’s death was ongoing and its findings were yet to be released.
