She buried a husband. Now she’s resurrecting the resistance.
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of murdered Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, has launched a new TV channel aimed directly at the Kremlin’s iron grip on truth. Her announcement this week triggered censors, triggered loyalists — and most importantly, triggered hope.
→ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/06/03/navalnaya-launches-tv-channel-to-fight-russian-censorship-a89326
→ https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250603-navalny-widow-launches-tv-channel-to-fight-russia-censorship
The channel, named “Free Russia Now”, blends encrypted streaming, expat journalism, and survivor storytelling. Its stated aim: counter Kremlin propaganda, expose human rights abuses, and provide a lifeline to truth-starved Russians inside and out of the Federation.
The regime’s response? Predictable.
DNS blocks. Arrest threats. A flood of bot-fuelled disinformation. Russian state media dismissed Navalnaya’s launch as “foreign interference masquerading as widow grief.” Her only crime: refusing silence.
Analysts call this a “Samizdat 2.0” — a digital heir to the banned books once passed hand to hand in Soviet kitchens. Only now, the battlefield is livestreamed.
She isn’t a politician. She isn’t a general.
But in Russia 2025, information is insurgency — and Navalnaya just raised her flag.