In Russian custom, the soul of the dead is believed to remain on earth for 40 days, finishing its business among the living before it moves on to the afterlife. Surviving friends and relatives often spend this period in mourning and reflection. But the loved ones of Alexei Navalny, Russia’s leading dissident, did not have much freedom to abide by this custom after he died in an Arctic prison camp on Feb. 16.
For them, and especially for his wife Yulia Navalnaya, the weeks that followed were a blur of studio lights, airports, hotels, and video calls. Between consoling their two children and being consoled by them, she met with President Joe Biden in San Francisco and addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. She
