Western countries, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed President Vladimir Putin for the deaths
Moscow:
Hundreds of bouquets of flowers and candles placed in Moscow in honor of Russia’s most prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny were taken away overnight in black bags on Friday.
Russia’s prison service said Navalny, 47, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony. Navalny’s spokesman, Kira Yarmysh, confirmed his death on Saturday, citing an official notification sent to his mother, Lydumila.
Dozens of roses and carnations stood in the soft snow in central Moscow on Saturday in front of the Memorial to Victims of Soviet Repression, which stands in the shadow of the former KGB headquarters on Lubyanka Square.
Vladimir Nikitin, 36, laid a carnation alone in front of the Solovetsky Stone, which came from the island of the same name in the White Sea where the Bolsheviks built the first “ancient Lage” forced labor camp.
The police looked on.
When interviewed by Reuters, Nikitin asked to speak in an underpass beneath Lubyanka Square, citing concerns about being detained.
“Navalny’s death is terrible: hope has been shattered,” Nikitin said.
“Navalny is a very serious man, a brave man, and now he is no longer with us. He told the truth – which is very dangerous because some people don’t like the truth.”
Some Russians laid flowers next to Navalny’s photo at the “Wall of Sorrow” monument on the avenue named after Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. “We will not forget and we will not forgive,” one message read.
“I came because I feel sad,” said Arkady, who declined to give his name. “He’s a guy I respect. I hope he’s a guy who can make a difference in the future.”
Western countries, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed President Vladimir Putin for the deaths. Western leaders cited no evidence.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Western leaders’ response to the death was unacceptable and “absolutely insane.”
Russian authorities view Navalny and his supporters as extremists with ties to the CIA intelligence agency seeking to destabilize Russia. They outlawed his movement, forcing many of his followers to flee abroad.
The death of former lawyer Navalny leaves Russia’s diverse opposition without its most charismatic and courageous leader, just as Putin prepares for an election that will keep the former KGB spy in power until at least 2030.
death in prison
The OVD-Info protest monitoring group said more than 110 people were arrested across Russia at rallies and memorial services for Navalny, including 64 in St. Petersburg, Russia’s former imperial capital.
Navalny rose to prominence more than a decade ago by documenting and mocking the vast corruption and opulence of “crooks and thieves” in Russia under Putin.
At the time of his death, he was serving a sentence in prison on a series of extremism and fraud charges totaling more than 30 years, which he denied and said were politically motivated.
His mother was traveling to the IK-3 penal colony in the Yamal-Nenets region, about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, where he died, Russian media reported.
Navalny’s supporters – including in the West – see him as Russia’s version of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, who will one day be free and lead the country.
His wife Yulia told the Munich Security Conference that Putin was responsible for her husband’s death and that the world should unite to defeat Moscow’s “terrible regime” and take back Russia.
However, some Russians dismiss this view as typical wishful thinking, pointing to a poll showing that a majority of Russians disapprove of him and that Putin is more popular.
“Navalny’s death will be very beneficial to Putin’s opponents,” said former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov.
“They will use it to undermine the legitimacy of Russia’s presidential election, use it to not recognize Putin as the legitimate president. They are trying to portray Putin as a criminal who no one can deal with, rather than as the president of a hostile country. “It should have to be dealt with. . “
Hours after news of Navalny’s death broke, Ukraine withdrew its troops from south of the city of Avdivka, paving the way for Russia’s biggest advance in the country since May 2023.
West ‘not our friend’
On Friday night, hours after news of Navalny’s death broke, many young Russians partied hard at the Patriki, or Patriarch’s Pond, a Moscow nightlife hub. No sign of sadness.
“When someone dies, of course it is sad,” Russian Olga Kazakova told Reuters in central Moscow on Saturday.
“But the West paints him as something he is not. The West is not our friend – you are fighting us in Ukraine.”
On February 27, 2015, flowers were removed overnight from the bridge next to the Kremlin where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was shot. A makeshift vase held white and red carnations, with a small piece of printed paper remaining on top.
The note read: “Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back and murdered here.”
Police looked on as the children made their way through the snow in the shadow of St. Basil’s Cathedral.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
