As Navalny’s coffin arrived at the church, some mourners chanted “Navalny!”
Moscow, Russia:
Thousands of mourners gathered near a church in southern Moscow on Friday, risking arrest to pay their respects to late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at his funeral.
The ceremony came two weeks after the death of Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison. His supporters have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of murdering his top critic and are trying to prevent him from having a dignified public funeral.
The Kremlin denies involvement in Alexei Navalny’s death and warns against “unauthorized” protests around the funeral.
Some mourners chanted “Navalny” as Navalny’s coffin arrived at the Church of Our Lady of God in Marino, where the funeral will be held.
The French and German ambassadors were among the crowd, as were some of Russia’s last free and independent politicians.
“A man like him should not die: honest, principled, willing to sacrifice himself,” said Anna Stepanova, one of the mourners outside the church.
Fences were erected around the building but access remained open despite a heavy presence of law enforcement officers and riot police vehicles.
“What are they afraid of? Why so many cars?” Stepanova said.
“They’re scared themselves,” she said. “People who come here are not afraid. Alexei is not afraid either.”
“nothing to say”
The funeral is scheduled for 1300 GMT at Borisovo Cemetery, just a few steps from the banks of the Moscow River.
“Any unauthorized gathering will violate the law and those who take part in it will be held accountable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the TASS news agency.
Rights group OVD-Info said some 400 mourners have been detained at Alexei Navalny’s memorial since his death.
The dissident’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, earlier said she feared the funeral could be disrupted by further arrests.
“I’m not yet sure if things will be peaceful or if the police will arrest people who come to say goodbye to my husband,” Navalnaya told the European Parliament this week.
She blamed Putin directly for his death.
Western governments were quick to hold the Kremlin accountable but stopped short of directly accusing it of involvement.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized her and some Western leaders’ accusations as “vulgar”.
On the day of the funeral, Peskov said he had “no words” for Alexei Navalny’s family.
galvanized block
Alexei Navalny rose to prominence through his anti-corruption campaign, exposing what he said was rampant corruption at the top of Putin’s government.
Some mourners cited Alexei Navalny’s outsize influence on their own political engagement.
“I started getting involved in politics because of him… He was the first public person I listened to,” said Dennis, a 26-year-old charity volunteer.
Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Russia after receiving treatment in Germany for a poisoning attack.
“Alexei suffered three years of torture,” Navalnaya told lawmakers in Brussels.
“He starved in a small stone cell, cut off from the outside world and refused visits, phone calls and even letters.”
“Then they killed him. Even after that, they abused his body,” she said.
His body was held in a morgue for eight days before being returned to his family, in what Alexei Navalny’s team believes was an attempt to cover up responsibility for his death.
“Ideas are here to stay”
His family and team also accuse authorities of trying to prevent a dignified public burial, fearing it could become a flashpoint for dissent.
Alexei Navalny’s team says local investigators threatened to bury him in prison if his mother did not agree to a “secret” burial.
After the body was released, allies worked to find a place agreed to hold the funeral and the driver of the hearse.
Civil ceremonies that allow the public to pay their respects to the body – common in Russia – are also banned.
Navalnaya vowed to continue his life’s work and urged to “fight harder and harder than before.”
Some in the crowd near the church seemed to agree.
Alyona, a 22-year-old archaeologist who came to express her condolences, said: “A man has died, but his thoughts will live on, thanks to the people who gathered here.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
