Yulia Navalnaya, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and Olena Zelenska. Three women, three big movements. They stand up for freedom. The women’s struggle gives Vladimir Putin nightmares.
Per Olav ØdegårdCommentator Info
Commentator in VG. Former foreign journalist and correspondent for VG in the USA. Writes mostly about international affairs.
Drawing: Roar Hagen Friday 8 March at 13:55
The three women have leadership roles in the fight for freedom in three different countries, against Putin and his fellow runners.
Their importance was long underestimated. They are mothers and are, or were, their husbands’ counselors. Their men got all the public attention.
When tragic events befell the women themselves, and their people, they took personal responsibility. They stood up and took leadership. By virtue of own strength. As himself. They became courageous spokeswomen for democracy and freedom. And they speak against Putin.
MARCH 8 TODAY: Julia Navalnaya, Svetlana Tikhanovskaja and Olena Zelenska. Photo: Emil Helms / AP / NTB, AP / NTB, NEIL HALL / EPA / NTB
Zelenska is the first lady of Ukraine. She became a leading spokeswoman for Ukraine’s cause abroad at a critical phase of the war in her homeland.
Navalnya’s husband died in February in one of Putin’s prison camps. She now continues his fight.
Tikhanovskaja became an opposition leader in Belarus when her husband was imprisoned by the regime.
FEAR THE OPPOSITION: Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Moscow on 14 December 2023. The austerity shows that the regime fears internal opposition. Photo: ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO / AFP / NTB
It was Olena Zelenska who wrote the lyrics her husband performed. Volodymyr Zelenskyj became a famous TV star. She stayed in the background.
She became angry when the man, without talking to her first, announced that he was running for president. She knew that if he succeeded it would change her family’s life forever.
No one understood what awaited them. Zelenskyj went to the election with promises of peace. Instead, he became a wartime president.
For the first ten months after Putin’s full-scale invasion, the president could not leave the country. His wife became his diplomatic envoy.
In the summer of 2022, she was received at the White House and she spoke to congressional representatives. She met European leaders, attended conferences and was interviewed by Western media.
– Zelenska has become a global symbol of resistance, said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
Olena Zelenska put the spotlight on Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children, and at home in Ukraine she established a foundation to help war victims and children who have lost parents in the war.
TOGETHER IN THE FIGHT: Olena Zelenska and Volodymyr Zelenskyj celebrate together, when the latter won the presidential race in 2019. Photo: Vadim Ghirda / AP / NTB
In February, Yulia Navalnaya was at the security conference in Munich when the news broke that her husband, Alexei Navalny, had died in a Russian prison camp. Shortly after, she took the podium in Bavaria.
It became one of the strongest and most memorable moments in the history of the Munich Conference. It was brutal and spontaneous. She held the Russian regime responsible for the man’s death.
– Should I stand here in front of you, or should I go back to be with my children. Then I thought what Aleksej would have done. I’m sure he would be standing here on this stage.
In grief, she knew what had to be done. She had been her husband’s closest adviser. She stood by his side in demonstrations against the regime. His struggle was hers too.
A few days later, Navalnaya said she is continuing her husband’s work. But she could not attend the funeral of her husband in Moscow. She knows better than anyone the risks involved in organizing opposition to Putin’s regime.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya ran as the opposition presidential candidate in Belarus after her husband, Sergej Tikhanov, was arrested by Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime, accused of organizing riots and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with a heavy hand for nearly 30 years. Through him, Putin has control over the country that is called Europe’s last dictatorship. At the same time, Russia is also becoming increasingly totalitarian.
When the man was refused to stand for election, he was replaced by his spouse. She says she did it out of love. She soon felt the regime’s hatred.
In the US: President Joe Biden embraces Julia Navalnaja at a rally in San Francisco on February 22. She became a widow the week before. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP / NTB
Lukashenko declared election victory in 2020, but neither the opposition nor democratic countries recognized the result. In a dictatorship, the election outcome is a given. With Putin’s support, Lukashenko was able to quell the mass demonstrations that followed the election.
To avoid being thrown in prison, Tikhanovskaja went into exile four years ago. She represents Belarus in many international meetings. She acts as the head of a sort of shadow government to Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule. She advocates for the political prisoners and calls for stricter sanctions against the regime in her home country.
There are approximately 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus. According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, prisoners are subjected to systematic torture.
In an interview with CNBC, Tikhanovskaja says that what drives her is a “deep, deep pain that turns into energy”:
– Every day I wake up I think about my husband, but also the pain from all the horrible things that are happening, the torture that people are being subjected to at this moment. I am enraged by this lawlessness.
The three do not agree on everything. But they each constitute a strong political force in Ukraine. Belarus and Russia.
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2024-03-08 12:55:03
#Opinions #Navalnaya #Tikhanovskaya #Zelenska #women #give #Putin #nightmares
