Yulia Navalnaya bio, age, children, height, photos, where is she now 2025

Biography of Yulia Navalnaya

Yulia Navalnaya is the wife of Russian politician Alexei Navalny. Yulia has always supported her husband and shared his views, though Alexei once admitted that on many issues his wife is "much more radical than he is."

Childhood

Yulia was born in 1976 in Moscow. Her father, Boris Alexandrovich Abrosimov, was a research associate. Her mother's name isn't known, but available information shows she worked at the Ministry of Light Industry of the USSR. When Yulia was still very young, her parents separated, and her mother remarried. Her new husband was an employee of the State Planning Committee of the USSR. Yulia's biological father passed away in 1996.

However, in recent years, the press has been flooded with false claims that Yulia's father is alive and wasn't a research worker but a KGB agent. Journalist Alexander Sotnik, who conducted his own investigation, made this claim, followed by Oleg Kashin and Ksenia Sobchak. According to them, Yulia Navalnaya's father is the currently alive secretary of the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom, Boris Borisovich Abrosimov. Both Yulia Navalnaya and her husband have denied these claims. The politician even posted a death certificate of his father-in-law dated 1996 in his blog.

Education

Yulia Abrosimova (her maiden name) graduated from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, where she studied at the Faculty of Economic Relations. She mentioned this during an interview with her husband conducted by Yuriy Dud.

Navalnys – interview after the poisoning

The young woman completed internships abroad and then continued her studies in graduate school. Yulia also worked at one of the capital's banks, but she does not disclose which one.

Meeting Alexei Navalny

In 1998, Yulia met a young lawyer named Alexei Navalny while vacationing in Turkey. According to their friends, Yulia impressed Alexei by knowing the names of all the ministers of Russian government.

Yulia Abrosimova and Alexei Navalny in their youth

Upon returning to Moscow, the young couple continued to see each other, and they got married in 2000. At that time, no one could have predicted that Navalny would become a famous blogger exposing corrupt power, run for Mayor of Moscow and even President of Russia, and become Vladimir Putin's main enemy. Navalnaya herself has said she didn't marry a politician or promising lawyer but simply a young man named Alexei, knowing full well that life with him could take dramatic turns.

Soon after getting married, the newlyweds joined the liberal political party "Yabloko." In 2001, the couple had their first child, a daughter named Dasha (Daria), followed seven years later by a son named Zakhar (Zachary).

For a while, Yulia worked in Alexei's parents' business, a wicker-weaving enterprise. What her exact duties were remains unknown.

Yulia revealed that she and Alexei made a point of being completely open with their children. She'd tell the kids straight up when their father was locked up in detention, explaining exactly where he was and why. When Dasha was just four, she announced to her kindergarten class that her father "works at rallies," and by second grade, she was telling people "dad fights against crooks." Naturally, the opposition leader's daughter fully supported Alexei, as did his son.

Yulia Navalnaya: 'Children know where dad is when he is put in jail'

Despite the warm family atmosphere, Alexei and Yulia were actually pretty strict parents. Case in point: a private conversation between Dasha and a friend leaked online, where she vented about her mother's tough words. Yulia supposedly told her that if she bombed her studies, she'd end up working at a coffee shop for the rest of her life. Whether that's actually what happened is unclear, but Dasha herself admitted in her posts that she and her mom had a rocky relationship during her teens.

In 2007, the couple hit a major turning point – the kind of dramatic shift Yulia had somehow always expected from her husband. After clashing with "Yabloko" party leadership, especially Grigory Yavlinsky, Navalny broke away and launched his own anti-corruption crusade. The lawyer launched his blog and started exposing corruption in Russian state companies. Yulia stepped in as his right-hand woman and secretary. Navalnaya slowly stepped into the spotlight, earning nicknames like "the Decembrist's wife" and "the first lady of the opposition" from the press. She reportedly left "Yabloko" later than her husband – in 2011.

Until 2018-2021, Yulia stayed largely behind the scenes. With Navalny getting arrested regularly starting in 2011, she basically became the one holding down the fort at home. She didn't speak out much on politics, but when she did, her words packed more punch than her husband's.

Yulia Navalnaya at a rally on Sakharov Avenue (06.09.2013)

Case in point: she flat-out called Viktor Zolotov, the head of the Rosgvardiya, a "gangster" after he challenged Navalny to a duel in September 2018. Yulia never let anyone trash-talk her husband, and after Alexei's poisoning, she went after Doctor Roshal hard, saying she had zero respect for him and saw him as nothing more than a "voice of the state."

Yulia stepped more into the spotlight in 2018 as the presidential elections approached. With Alexei banned from running because of his criminal record, opposition circles started buzzing about whether Yulia might step up and run instead. Ksenia Sobchak said she floated this idea to Navalny, but according to her, he shot it down.

The Poisoning of Alexei Navalny

In August 2020, the Navalny family faced a crisis that would test Yulia's courage and determination like never before.

Yulia Navalnaya supports her husband and shares his views

The politician was touring cities in Siberia and the Far East. On August 20, during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, he suddenly fell ill. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk and Navalny was rushed to a local hospital. The quick thinking of the plane's crew and emergency doctors would later prove to have saved his life. But in that moment, Alexei was in a coma, showing clear signs of poisoning by an unknown substance. Yulia flew to Omsk urgently.

When she arrived, she discovered she wasn't allowed to see her husband. The chief doctor at Omsk hospital refused to give her any clear information. Police swarmed the hospital, and medical staff were forbidden from speaking with Yulia or Navalny's team—even his personal doctor was barred from seeing him.

Alexei's wife was in contact with German doctors who flew to Omsk urgently to transport the politician. They declared the patient stable enough for transport, but Russian authorities claimed otherwise and refused to release Navalny. Yulia later revealed that during this crisis, she learned to calmly say the words "death" and "dying"—words she'd once scolded her relatives for even mentioning. Later, Yulia admitted that during those hours she thought her husband would die.

After several tense days, Yulia and Navalny's supporters managed to get him airlifted to Germany, where he received treatment at Berlin's Charité hospital.

Yulia Navalnaya with her family at the Charité clinic

Press photos revealed the physical toll the ordeal had taken on Yulia, yet she never stopped fighting for her husband. When Alexei awakened from his coma in early September 2020, he shared a heartbreaking social media post, admitting he couldn't recognize faces, didn't know where he was, and couldn't even speak—but he was always waiting for one woman whose presence made everything better: Yulia.

Alexei and Yulia Navalny in January 2021 in Germany

Investigators later confirmed the politician had been poisoned with Novichok, a deadly nerve agent. Navalny accuses the Russian leadership and special services of being behind the attack. The Kremlin denies this information. Omsk clinic officials maintained that Navalny had suffered a metabolic disorder.

Alexei Navalny's Arrest

In mid-January 2021, Yulia and her husband flew to Moscow from Berlin, where Alexei had been undergoing treatment. During the flight, journalists captured many touching moments, including the couple watching the animated series "Rick and Morty" together.

Archive video shows Alexei Navalny being detained in Moscow on plane

Upon arrival, Navalny was immediately detained, and Yulia once again found herself in the role of a "Decembrist's wife." She did everything in her power to help her husband. During court hearings, they shared touching gestures.

Yulia and Alexei Navalny returning to Russia

In February 2021, the press again speculated about Yulia Navalnaya's potential candidacy in elections. On February 8, Igor Lebedev, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, claimed that Navalnaya posed no threat to the authorities as a candidate.

However, the next day, it emerged that the Association for the Development of Business Patriotism in Russia "AVANTI" proposed banning foreign agents and their family members from running in elections at all levels. The businessmen explicitly stated that their initiative was primarily aimed against Yulia Navalnaya and would prevent a Belarusian scenario in Russia. In Belarus, remember that in 2020, after the arrest of opposition figure Sergei Tikhanovsky, his wife Svetlana began collecting signatures on his behalf and later led the protests. In early 2023, Yulia and her children took the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to accept the statuette awarded to the documentary film "Navalny."

'Navalny' Wins Best Documentary Feature Film | 95th Oscars (2023)

Yulia Navalnaya's Personal Life

Yulia supports her husband's views. In her view, Alexei strives to make life better. Alexei reciprocates her support. He's said that he can't even lie on the sofa unless she's looking at him.

Yulia usually dresses very modestly but elegantly, preferring a casual style. Occasionally, she can be seen in T-shirts with political statements, but mostly she wears jeans and hoodies.

Yulia Navalnaya Now

On February 16, 2024, reports emerged that Alexei Navalny died in the "Polar Wolf" colony located in the Harp settlement, beyond the Arctic Circle. On that day, Yulia was scheduled to speak at the opening of the Munich Security Conference. Just before it began, she heard the terrible news and, in her words, wrestled with whether to fly back to her children immediately or stay and give her speech—and she chose the latter.

Alexei Navalny's death causes shockwaves at the Munich Security Conference

On February 19, Navalnaya made a statement, vowing to continue her husband's work.

Yulia Navalnaya: I continue the work of Alexey Navalny