Alexei Navalny, the fiercest critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died on February 16.
Moscow:
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny was buried late on Friday in Moscow amid tight security and fears of a police crackdown on him, two weeks after his sudden death in an Arctic exile , died at the age of 47.
Navalny’s allies pledged to livestream the day’s events online, accusing President Vladimir Putin of murdering him as the Russian leader reportedly cannot tolerate Navalny’s release in a potential prisoner swap.
They have yet to release evidence to support the allegation but have promised to explain how and by whom he was murdered.
The Kremlin denies state involvement in his death and says it is unaware of any agreement to free Navalny. His death certificate said he died of natural causes, according to allies.
Navalny, a former lawyer, has mounted the most determined political challenge to Putin since the Russian leader came to power in late 1999, organizing street protests and conducting high-profile investigations into alleged corruption by some within the ruling elite. .
But a series of criminal charges of fraud and extremism – which Navalny said were politically motivated – led to him being sentenced to more than 30 years in prison and most of his supporters either fleeing the country or being imprisoned.
Navalny decided to return to Russia from Germany in 2021 after receiving treatment for what Western doctors said was nerve agent poisoning, but was immediately detained.
Putin, who controls all the levers of the country and is expected to be easily re-elected to a six-year term within two weeks, has yet to comment on Navalny’s death, having avoided mentioning his name for years.
Although Navalny is well-known in the West, Russian state television has not mentioned him for years, and when it does it is brief and negative.
Navalny’s religious ceremony is scheduled to be held at 1400 local time at the Church of the Holy Mother of God in the Marino district of Moscow, where Navalny once lived.
Two hours later, he will be buried at Borisovskoye Cemetery, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) across the Moskva River.
Navalny’s allies outside Russia, who have been identified by authorities as U.S.-backed extremists, called on people who wanted to commemorate him but were unable to attend his funeral to visit certain landmarks in their towns on Friday night. 7pm local time.
The Kremlin dismissed his ally’s comments as provocative and warned police would abide by the law.
Judging from previous rallies by Navalny supporters, there is likely to be a heavy police presence and authorities will use protest laws to break up anything they deem to resemble a political demonstration.
Navalny’s wife Yulia, who has two children with him, said she was unsure whether the funeral itself would be peaceful or whether police would arrest attendees. She is outside Russia.
Navalny’s 69-year-old mother Lyudmila is expected to attend his funeral. It was unclear who else would be allowed into the church for the service.
Navalny, a Christian, denounced Putin’s decision to send tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine as a mad enterprise based on lies. But the church where his funeral was held has donated money to the Russian army and enthusiastically promoted support for the war effort.
On the eve of his funeral, his allies accused authorities of blocking their plans for a larger civil memorial service and said some unidentified people even managed to thwart their attempts to rent a hearse to take him to his own funeral.
The Kremlin said it had nothing to do with Navalny’s funeral arrangements.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
