Russian Women Support Yulia Navalnaya By Wearing Red

Russian women have been wearing red to showcase their support for Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia Navalnaya. Many of them have been circulating pictures of themselves in red attire on social media. Russian women decided to stand by her after she wore a red top at a court that awarded a two-year prison sentence to her husband. He will also have to spend eight months in a penal colony. 

Who Started The Trend?

This method of peaceful social media protest was started by a fashion writer named Katya Fedorova. She shared a photo of herself in a red jumper, and wrote:

 Today I am in red as a sign of support for Yulia Navalnaya, as well as all those detained and convicted for not being afraid to express their views, their wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, relatives and friends.

In addition to this, Fedorova had shared a message on her Telegram channel which asked people to share such photos so that Yulia Navalnaya and other could follow the hashtag, and know that they weren't indifferent. 

Many Russian women were inspired with Fedorova's move, and started posting pictures of themselves in red clothes. They captioned their photos with the hastag “Don't be sad, everything will be fine." These were Alexei Navalny's last words to his wife Yulia before he was detained. The colour red is said to be Yulia's favourite colour. 

There were some Russian celebrities who followed suit. A famous Russian blogger named Tatyana too showcased her support by wearing red. Checkout the post here. 

Why Are Russians Supporting Alexei Navalny and His Wife? 

Alexei Navalny has become a raging force to contend with in Russia. He is known for fearlessly criticising Vladimir Putin and his government. On 20 August 2020, Navalny fell ill while he was flying towards Moscow. He was then hospitalised and taken to Germany for further treatment. It was the German doctors who discovered that he was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent. 

Russian Women Support Yulia Navalnaya By Wearing Red

He eventually recovered and flew back to Russia a few weeks ago. However, he was immediately by the Moscow police as soon as he arrived at the Moscow airport and was jailed. In the last few weeks, the Russians have been protesting for his release and have slammed the Putin administration. Alexei Navalny's wife Yulia Navalnaya too was detained by the Moscow police. Read the full story here.

Pic Credit: The Independent