Alexei Navalny was buried this Friday under heavy police surveillance after a religious service in an Orthodox church in the south of Moscow, in a neighborhood where he once lived with his family. Several thousand supporters of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny gathered around the church, despite the risk of arrest.
The crowd gathered near the Moscow cemetery where Navalny was buried 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!“, Navalny’s sympathizers once again launched, despite a significant police presence in the area. “We will not forgive!“, they also shouted.
The Kremlin warned against any demonstrations “unauthorized” Friday, the team of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny having called for rallies for his funeral to which hundreds of people showed up in Moscow.
“Any unauthorized demonstration will constitute a violation of the law. Therefore, those who participate will be held responsible, in accordance with current law“, declared the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, quoted by the TASS agency.
Buoyed by its recent “victories”, would the Kremlin try to once again impose its 2022 peace plan? Several media outlets shared this information. The proposed peace plan developed during the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian negotiations would see Ukraine become an “independent” country, outside NATO and subject to Russia, like Belarus.
As for Finland, its new president Alexander Stubb said on Friday that he was ready to take “difficult decisions” to ensure the security of his country, which has experienced tensions with Russia since its accession to NATO last year.