We wish we could say that Alexei Navalny’s death has come as a shock, but considering how often we’ve seen people who refuse to be a political puppet for Vladamir Putin mysteriously end up dead, it’s not really surprising that this has happened. Those who knew Navalny were quick to accuse Putin and the Kremlin of murder, and whilst normally reserving judgment until there’s evidence would be the best stance to take, in this case we can be pretty certain that the Russian president is behind it. Arguably Navalny shouldn’t have even been in prison to begin with, but sadly his death now leaves his wife a widow and his children without a father.
The Russian lawyer has two children, a son and a daughter. Whilst not a great deal is known about Zakhar (he’s still only a minor), Navalny’s daughter, Daria — or Dasha, as she often goes by — is actually quite a well-known blogger and campaigner for her father’s release.
Who is Daria Navalnaya?
Whilst her exact birthday is unknown, it’s estimated that Daria is about 23, being born sometime in 2001, shortly after Alexei and his wife were married. She actually lives in the U.S., at Stanford University in California where she is studying Social Psychology and Political Science, so it looks like she’s following in her father’s footsteps. She has quite a large presence on social media, having almost 200k followers on her Instagram account. A large percentage of her posts are, understandably, dedicated to her father, but there are plenty of personal pictures with her mother and her brother, and there’s even a photo of Daria with Matt Smith.
Daria has spent the last few years campaigning online with her mother to free her father from prison. She has made multiple videos and done numerous interviews spreading awareness about the injustice done against her father. All this time, Daria and her mother have worked tirelessly to see Alexei freed from his unfair imprisonment; Daria even spoke at a Geneva summit, where she accepted an award for moral courage on her father’s behalf. That makes it all the more heartbreaking and cruel that her father should die in such a way.
Has Daria Navalnaya commented on her father’s death yet?
As of writing, there has been no comment from Alexei’s daughter regarding his untimely death. Understandably, the family will likely need time to grieve, although Daria’s mother, Yulia Navalnaya, has already spoken on the matter, calling for justice for her husband. We can assume that Daria stands strong with her mother on this one. Even after Alexei’s death, Daria and Yulia’s campaign has still managed to bring a lot of attention to the human rights violations being committed by the Kremlin, so we can only hope they continue their campaign in his name.