Zelensky’s wife and Navalny’s widow snub Biden and expose rift

Alexei Navalny’s comments about Russia’s annexation of Crimea angered many Ukrainians.

Olena Zelenska is a global symbol of resistance to the Kremlin. Picture: Getty Images

Ukraine’s first lady has turned down an invitation to attend President Joe Biden’s state of the union address alongside Alexei Navalny’s widow, highlighting animosity in Kyiv towards the late Russian opposition leader.

Olena Zelenska and Yulia ­Navalnaya, who are both seen as global symbols of resistance to the Kremlin, were scheduled to sit next to Jill Biden, the US first lady, at Thursday’s (Friday AEDT) event at the US Capitol, The Washington Post reported.

However, Ms Navalnaya’s potential presence “caused discomfort” for the Ukrainians because of her late husband’s comments on occupied Crimea, the newspaper said, citing unnamed people familiar with the Biden administration’s plan.

In 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Navalny said while the Black Sea peninsula had been seized illegally by Moscow, it was clear that it would remain under Russia’s control for the foreseeable future.

“Let’s not kid ourselves. And I advise the Ukrainians not to kid themselves, either,” Navalny, who was half-Ukrainian on his ­father’s side, said. When asked if he would return Crimea to Ukraine if he were to become president, he said: “Is Crimea a ham sandwich or something that you can take and give it back? I don’t believe so.”

He later admitted that the metaphor was clumsy.

Navalny’s views evolved, however. In 2018, during his unsuccessful attempt to stand for president, he suggested an internationally recognised referen­dum should be held in Crimea over its future status. However, he said the issue was unlikely to be resolved successfully for generations. In a message from prison after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, he said Ukraine’s lawful territory consisted of everything within its borders after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, including Crimea. His comments came too late to overcome widespread animosity in Ukraine.

After Navalny died last month in a Russian prison in the Arctic, his allies and Western leaders said that he had been killed by President Vladimir Putin. However, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of GUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence, echoed the remarks of Russian officials who said Navalny died of a blood clot.

Yulia Navalnaya addresses the European Parliament last month. Picture: AFP

His comments were seized upon by the Kremlin as confirmation that Navalny died a “natural death” at the age of 47.

It was unclear how the GUR would have been able to gain such precise information on the death in a remote Russian penal facility.

Maria Pevchikh, the head of Navalny’s FBK anti-corruption organisation, accused Lieutenant General Budanov of spreading disinformation. “He lies,” she wrote on social media.

A White House official and Ms Zelenska’s office both cited scheduling conflicts as the reason for her decision not to travel to Washington for one of the highlights of the US political calendar. Ms Zelenska’s office said she had an appointment to meet children from an orphanage in Kyiv.

Ms Navalnaya also decided against accepting the invitation, citing fatigue. The White House is not thought to have informed Kyiv that Ms Navalnaya had decided against attending, a US official said. “Yulia’s husband died two weeks ago. She’s been travelling all this time. Today is the first day she’s been home at all. Like any human being, she needs time to recover,” Kira Yarmysh, her spokeswoman, said.

Mr Zelensky has also made comments that appear jarring in the context of the war. In 2014, after the Kremlin annexed Crimea, he said Russians and Ukrainians were “one ­people”, an expression Putin used as part of his justification for invading.

“In principle, we cannot be against the Russian people, because we are one people,” Mr Zelensky said, according to Segodnya, a Ukrainian media outlet. About half of Ukraine’s pre-war population, 20 million people, have relatives in Russia.

Kyiv’s reluctance to send Ms Zelenska to Washington is also thought to have been motivated by a desire not to antagonise Republicans before November’s US presidential election. Donald Trump is all but certain to secure the Republican Party nomination and some polls suggest he will defeat Mr Biden. A $US60bn military aid package for Ukraine has been held up in Washington because of the objections of some Republicans.

THE TIMES