World
Navalnaya tells MEPs to 'stop being boring' to defeat Putin's regime
The European Parliament needs to “stop being boring” if it wants to stand up to Vladimir Putin, Yulia Navalnaya told the hemicycle on Wednesday.
“If you really want to defeat Putin, you have to become an innovator. You have to stop being boring,” Navalnaya said in a speech to lawmakers in Strasbourg.
“You cannot hurt Putin with another resolution or another set of sanctions that is no different to the last one,” she added.
“You cannot defeat him by thinking he is a man of principle who has morals and rules. He is not like that. and Alexei realised that a long time ago. You are not dealing with a politician, but with a bloody monster.”
Her speech, interrupted several times by applause, came less than two weeks after her husband Alexei Navalny, considered Putin’s fiercest political foe, died in an Arctic penal colony following years of persecution at the hands of the Kremlin.
The exact circumstances of his passing remain unclear. The EU has directly pinned responsibility for his death on Putin’s regime.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the bloc has imposed thirteen packages of sanctions aimed at suffocating Russia’s ability to modernise its economy and cutting access to critical goods used on the battlefield in Ukraine.
High Representative Josep Borrell has vowed to rename the EU’s human rights sanctions regime in Navalny’s honour.
But Navalnaya said the EU needs less symbolism and more targeted investigations focused on Putin’s friends and associates, warning that Putin was continuing to hide money – and power – in EU capitals through organised crime networks.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation, the NGO that Navalny founded, has compiled a list of thousands of Russian officials, oligarchs and propagandists considered Putin’s “bribetakers and warmongers,” many of whom remain spared from Western sanctions.
The widow and activist also pleaded with MEPs not to give in to war fatigue or advocate for peace negotiations with the Russian President.
“There is much exhaustion, much blood, much disappointment, and Putin has gone nowhere,” she explained, adding that the “public murder” of her husband has shown that Putin is “capable of anything” and that “you cannot negotiate with him.”
Russia’s war has had a seismic effect across the continent, sparking a revival of the NATO military alliance and forcing the EU to reignite its dormant enlargement policy to prepare Ukraine’s path to membership,
But scepticism among some political camps about the bloc’s financial and military support to Kyiv, coupled with a faltering Ukrainian counter-offensive, means Brussels is under pressure to do more to show its commitment to Ukraine’s victory.
The prospective return of Donald Trump to the White House means the bloc is gearing up to bolster its defence capacities to back Ukraine without its trans-Atlantic partner.
‘Work with us’
Alexei Navalny was 47 when he died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. His death has dealt a blow to pro-democracy Russians, an estimated 400 of whom were detained for laying flowers and lighting candles in his memory in Russian cities.
Associates of Navalny have claimed Putin ordered his assassination just days before a planned prisoner swap, which would have seen him and two US citizens exchanged for Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian assassin serving a life sentence in Germany.
The EU, which has long saluted Navalny’s unwavering fight for Russian democracy, repeatedly denounced Putin’s regime for its systemic repression of government critics in the years prior to the invasion of Ukraine.
But the critic’s death has shed light on the futility of those efforts, as Putin has continued to deepen his autocracy.
ADVERTISEMENTNavalnaya told the hemicycle that there are “tens of millions” of Russians who oppose the Kremlin but who are unable to express their resistance due to fear.
“We must not persecute them,” she said. “On the contrary, you must work with them, with us.”
Navalnaya has vowed to continue her husband’s crusade and become the new face of Russia’s stifled opposition, galvanising pro-democracy Russians to stand up to the regime.
“Putin must answer for what he has done to a neighbouring peaceful country, and Putin must answer for everything he has done to Alexei. My husband will never see what the beautiful Russia of the future will look like. But we must see it, and I will do,” she told the Parliament.
“I will do my best to make his (Alexei’s) dream come true. The evil will fall and the beautiful future will come,” she added.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Parliament’s president, Roberta Metsola, said that the “hope” Alexei represented remains “as bright as ever.”
“The pillars of autocracy always crumble under the weight of its own corruption and people’s desire to live freely,” Metsola said.
Navalnaya confirmed that her husband’s funeral is due to take place in Moscow’s southeast Maryino district on Friday afternoon. She is unsure whether the funeral will be peaceful, or whether Russian police will be present to detain the mourners, she said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the U.S. prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.
The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.
The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.
Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.
Sunday’s higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.
The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.
Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.
“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.
Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.
A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.
Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.
A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.
Trump warns Iran it ‘can’t blackmail’ US with Hormuz closure
Fox News reports on heightened tensions in the Middle East as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reaffirms strict control over the Strait of Hormuz and fires on passing ships. President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, states the US naval blockade will remain in full force. White House correspondent Alex Hogan provides updates on the escalating diplomatic and military standoff.
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Hundreds of commercial tankers are stranded on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz after Iran shut the critical chokepoint on April 18, halting traffic and leaving crews trapped amid reports of gunfire and “traumatic experiences” on board.
The Strait of Hormuz is considered an international waterway under international law, through which ships have the right of transit passage, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, making it a critical chokepoint for global energy markets, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Iranian gunboats opened fire on a tanker the same day, while a projectile struck a container vessel, damaging cargo.
STARMER AND MACRON ACCUSED OF ‘PLAYING AT BEING RELEVANT’ WITH STRAIT OF HORMUZ PLAN
U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that “U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports.” (CENTCOM)
Audio released by maritime monitoring group TankerTrackers appears to capture the moment a vessel and its crew came under fire while approaching the strait, including a distress call from a crew member.
“Sepah Navy! Motor tanker Sanmar Herald! You gave me clearance to go… you are firing now. Let me turn back!” the crew member can be heard saying in the recording, according to TankerTrackers.
Iranian state media confirmed that shots were fired near vessels to force them to turn back, while the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said the foreign secretary was deeply concerned.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line, told Fox News Digital that it had activated a crisis team as its crews remain stuck on board vessels in the region.
“We have been working from Friday afternoon until today with the entire crisis team to bring the vessels out — in vain, unfortunately,” said Nils Haupt, senior director of group communications at Hapag-Lloyd AG.
“These events can easily lead to traumatic experiences. There is also a significant risk from sea mines, which has made insuring vessels for passage through the Strait nearly impossible.”
LISA DAFTARI: HORMUZ WHIPLASH PROVES TEHRAN CAN’T HONOR ANY DEAL IT SIGNS
“The crews are well, but they are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. It is very unfortunate that we could not leave today,” he added. “Many ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf.”
“Our six ships are anchored near the port of Dubai, and all crews hope for an improvement in the situation,” Haupt said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on April 18 that the strait would remain closed until the U.S. lifts its blockade on Iranian ports, warning ships not to move from anchorage or risk being treated as “enemy” collaborators.
Iran has previously argued that restrictions on its oil exports and shipping amount to “economic warfare,” framing actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a response to foreign pressure on its economy, according to statements from Iranian officials and state media in past incidents.
“Approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and any violating vessel will be targeted,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
TRUMP ORDERS A BLOCKADE IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS TENSIONS WITH IRAN SOAR
Fishing boats dot the sea as cargo ships, in the background, sail through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo)
The United States imposed the blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the strait, with U.S. Central Command saying the measures are being enforced “impartially against all vessels.”
Hapag-Lloyd said its vessels have been stuck for weeks following the initial closure after the outbreak of war with Iran on Feb. 28.
“For us, it is critical that our vessels can pass through the strait soon,” Haupt said.
“We offer all crew members unlimited data so they can video call loved ones and access entertainment. Crews are strong, but after weeks on board there is growing monotony and frustration.”
“One crew experienced a fire on board from bomb fragments. Others have seen missiles or drones near their vessels,” he added.
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“They are resilient, but each additional day makes the situation more difficult, more monotonous, and more stressful.”
President Donald Trump said Iran had agreed not to close the strait again but after the closure, Trump called the situation “blackmail” and said the U.S. would not back down.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
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