Despite warnings from the Kremlin, thousands of Russians gathered Friday in Moscow near the site where the funeral of opponent Alexeï Navalny took place. The crowd notably chanted “No to war!” in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The remains of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny arrived on Friday March 1 at the Borissovo cemetery in Moscow, where he was buried, after a short religious ceremony at the church, in front of which thousands of people gathered.
Once near the cemetery, the crowd chanted “No to war!” in protest of the Russian assault launched more than two years ago against Ukraine. “He was not afraid and we are not afraid!”, continued the supporters of Alexeï Navalny, despite a large police force in the area. “We will not forgive!”, they also shouted.
The Russian opponent, who died on February 16 at the age of 47 in an Arctic prison, was buried surrounded by some of his relatives, AFP noted. “The coffin has lowered to the ground,” one of the opponent’s close collaborators, Ivan Zhdanov, said on Telegram. “Goodbye, my friend,” he added.
Russian police made at least 45 arrests during these funerals, according to the specialized NGO OVD-Info, most of which took place in cities other than the capital. “In total, OVD-Info is aware of more than 45 detentions,” the NGO said on Telegram.
Six of these people were arrested in Moscow, the other arrests having occurred in other localities such as Novosibirsk in Siberia, or in the Voronezh region.
“People like him shouldn’t die.”
Earlier, a large queue formed outside a church in southeastern Moscow, with some people coming with flowers and others with tears in their eyes.
“It’s painful, people like him should not die, honest people, with principles, ready to sacrifice themselves,” testifies Anna Stepanova, also emphasizing the opponent’s “sense of humor.” “Even in pain, he made jokes.”
The police, massively deployed, installed fences throughout the area, AFP journalists noted.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov warned of potential sanctions in the event of participation in any “unauthorized” demonstration during the funeral.
The arrival of Alexeï Navalny’s coffin in a church in Moscow.
Admiration for the courage of the Russians who cheer him by chanting his name.
Dead even more than alive, Navalny has become the icon of resistance that Putin will not get rid of. pic.twitter.com/PAclDdyLGx
— Marion Van Renterghem (@MarionVanR) March 1, 2024
Main critic of President Vladimir Putin, the charismatic anti-corruption activist died on February 16 at the age of 47 in a Russian penal colony in the Arctic in circumstances which remain obscure. His collaborators, his widow Yulia Navalnaïa and the West have accused Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his death, which the Kremlin rejects.
After a quick funeral, the opponent’s remains arrived at the Borissovo cemetery, located nearby, according to an AFP journalist on site.
“We will not forget you!”, “Forgive us,” people in the crowd shouted when the body arrived.
After delaying handing over Alexeï Navalny’s remains to his loved ones, the Russian authorities finally did so last weekend, allowing a funeral.
The funeral service began on Friday at 2 p.m. (11 a.m. GMT) in a church in the Marino district, in the southeast of the Russian capital, where the opponent lived when he was free.
Crowds flock to the funeral ceremony of Alexei Navalny, in the Marino district, on March 1, 2024. © Andrey Borodulin, AFP
According to the Orthodox rite, the body will be displayed in an open coffin for his loved ones before burial in the nearby Borissovo cemetery, two hours later.
Since the handing over of Alexeï Navalny’s body to his mother on Saturday, the opponent’s team had been looking for a place for a “public farewell” but was “rejected” any request, accusing the authorities of putting pressure on the managers.
07:04
“Memory flouted”
His team nevertheless called on Muscovites to come and say goodbye to Alexeï Navalny, and his supporters in other cities and abroad to gather in front of memorials to honor his memory. Gatherings which could be embarrassing for those in power, two weeks before the presidential election (March 15-17) supposed to extend Vladimir Putin’s reign in power.
Nearly 400 people were arrested by the police in the days following the death of the opponent, during improvised rallies in his memory.
Also read Death of Alexeï Navalny: who are the other opponents of Putin who died prematurely?
Yulia Navalnaïa, the opponent’s widow, regretted Thursday that no civil ceremony had been authorized to allow the body to be exposed to a wider public, as is often the case after the death of major personalities in Russia.
Yulia Navalnaïa, widow of opponent Alexeï Navalny, speaks in front of the European Parliament on February 28, 2024 in Strasbourg. © Frédérick Florin – AFP
“The people in the Kremlin killed him, then trampled his body, then trampled his mother and now trample his memory,” she lambasted, accusing Vladimir Putin and the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, of being responsible for this situation.
Yulia Navalnaïa also said, in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, that she feared arrests during the funeral.
Before his poisoning in 2020, which he narrowly survived and for which he accused Vladimir Putin, then his arrest and sentence to 19 years in prison for “extremism”, Alexeï Navalny managed to mobilize crowds, particularly in the capital.
His movement, which relied on investigations denouncing the corruption of Russian elites, has been methodically dismantled in recent years, sending many of its collaborators behind bars or in exile.
After the death of her husband, Yulia Navalnaïa promised to continue her fight.
With AFP