The funeral service and funeral of Alexei Navalny, who died in a colony on February 16, took place in Moscow. A long line of people wishing to say goodbye to the politician gathered at the “Assuage My Sorrows” church in the Maryino district of Moscow; the coffin was carried into the church and carried out amid shouts of “Navalny! Navalny! Following the hearse, the crowd threw flowers. The crowd chanted slogans such as “He was not afraid, and we are not afraid!” and “Love is stronger than fear”. Later, a crowd gathered at the Borisov cemetery, where the funeral took place. How it happened – in the RTVI material.
According to media reports, even before 9 a.m. Moscow time, at least forty police cars of various sizes, from cars to special buses, had accumulated near the church in Maryino. In addition, as eyewitnesses said, metal fences were installed along the perimeter, and riot police officers were on duty. Mounted police were also seen. According to Astra, by 13:00 the queue had already occupied almost the entire Maryinsky Boulevard, the length of which is 1.5 km.
Navalny’s ally Ivan Zhdanov* reported on his telegram channel that relatives arrived at the morgue at 10 am, when they were supposed to be given Navalny’s body, but by 12 this had not yet been done. Only at 12:45 Zhdanov* announced that “the hearse with Alexei’s body will be heading to the temple any minute.”
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At 1:54 p.m., a Navalny ally posted a video showing the coffin being carried into the church as the crowd shouted: “Navalny!” Less than an hour later, Zhdanov* reported that “the funeral service passed very quickly” and now “it makes sense” to go to the cemetery where the coffin is being taken.
The funeral service was conducted by the temple’s full-time cleric, Andrei Malevich, writes the telegram channel “We Can Explain”*. The parents of the oppositionist Lyudmila and Anatoly Navalny were present at the farewell.
During Navalny’s funeral service RusNews published a video recording with a view of the temple from above, in the footage people are chanting: “Alexey!” According to eyewitnesses, a line 2 km long lined up at the temple. “We won’t forgive!” — shouted People.
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On video from the church it is seenthat those gathered were not allowed to say goodbye to Navalny. A crowd of people surrounded the coffin, many shouted: “Let me say goodbye!”, “Let me come!”, “People have come to say goodbye!” “Alexey, rest in peace, thank you, our hero! <…> Alexey, I’m sorry we didn’t save you, I’m sorry!” — speaks young woman with tears.
After this, the footage shows an already closed coffin. “This is our dear person! You didn’t let me say goodbye!” – complain in the crowd.
Appeared video recordings, in which people near the temple after the funeral are chanting “Navalny! Navalny!” and applaud. The same slogans accompanied the process of carrying the coffin out of the church (the video is shown in the telegram channel of the publication “7×7 – Horizontal Russia” *). People threw flowers at the car with the coffin, and the crowd shouted: “Thank you, Alexey!” (video footage leads Astra).
Navalny’s ally Leonid Volkov* said on YouTube that the rector of the church, Father Anatoly Rodionov, and the singers were allegedly “pressured,” as a result, no more than 300 people managed to say goodbye to Navalny. Religious scholar Sergei Chapnin spoke on Facebook** with the statement that “there was an order from the patriarchy to reduce everything to the maximum.”
According to the correspondent of “Verstka”*, the funeral service went faster than planned, because people began to come to the coffin en masse.
Funerals and spontaneous memorials
After the funeral, the crowd headed to the cemetery, people carrying flowers in their hands. “Mediazona”* published video footage in which, in the words of one eyewitness, one can see “an endless procession from the temple to the cemetery.” The publication also publishes footage of those walking towards the cemetery chanting: “Freedom for political prisoners!”
Maxim Kardopoltsev / RTVI
At the funeral, they played music from the final scene of the film “Terminator 2,” which, according to Navalny’s associates, the oppositionist considered “the best film on earth.” In addition, the orchestra played Navalny’s favorite song, “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. Navalny’s team noted that “thousands of people” came to say goodbye to the politician and thanked those who came.
On the videotape, which leads Sota, it is clear that those who reached the Borisov cemetery chanted: “Lesha, we are with you!” Those gathered were not immediately allowed to say goodbye to Navalny, the crowd screamed: “Skip goodbye!”
After the coffin was lowered to the ground, people began to be allowed into the cemetery, Sota reported. At the cemetery, people laid flowers at the portrait of Alexei Navalny. “There are a lot of us! There are a lot of us!” — chanted people who were not at the cemetery at the time of burial.
“Thank you for your son!” — the crowd shouted to Navalny’s mother Lyudmila (video publishes Astra edition).
According to “7×7 – Horizontal Russia” *, the State Budgetary Institution “Ritual” previously reported that the Borisovskoye cemetery is usually open from 9:00 to 17:00, but after Navalny’s funeral the cemetery was not closed at the specified time. People continue to approach the oppositionist’s grave to lay flowers, and a huge line has stretched to the entrance, the publication writes.
The police said through a loudspeaker that they would let people into the cemetery in groups of 50 people, reports a Mediazona correspondent*.
Spontaneous memorials appeared near the Borisov cemetery; According to interlocutors of “7×7”*, one girl made a snow sculpture of an angel. Because access to Navalny’s grave is difficult, people are leaving flowers, candles and portraits on nearby snowdrifts and on a broken fence near a church in Maryino.
Maxim Kardopoltsev / RTVI
Mediazona* also writes about a spontaneous memorial in one of the courtyards next to the cemetery: according to its data, near the spontaneous memorial people chanted the name of the oppositionist and his phrase “Don’t give up!” (video published in the publication’s Telegram channel).
The footage shows that Navalny’s supporters brought posters and his portraits to the spontaneous memorial; in another place, the inscription “Navalny” was laid out in the snow in flowers. Another spontaneous memorial of flowers and candles appeared near the Borisovo metro station.
To the funeral it’s arrived many foreign diplomats and embassy cars. Among them are US Ambassador Lynn Tracy, British Deputy Ambassador Tom Dodd, French Ambassador Pierre Levy, German Ambassador Alexander Lambsdorf, and Canadian Ambassador Sarah Taylor. In addition, cars of the ambassadors of Ireland, Greece, Poland, Belgium and Austria were spotted.
Among others, politicians Boris Nadezhdin, ex-mayor of Yekaterinburg Evgeniy Roizman* and journalist Ekaterina Duntsova, who nominated herself for the presidential election, came to say goodbye to Navalny.
Navalny’s widow Yulia and children – daughter Daria and son Zakhar – were unable to attend the funeral for security reasons. For the same reason, the oppositionist’s associates were also absent, many of whom are facing arrest in Russia. Back in August 2022, it became known that eight hosts of the YouTube program “Popular Politics” from Navalny’s team became involved in criminal cases regarding “fakes” about the army and “justification of terrorism.”
With words of gratitude to those gathered at the cemetery appealed from the whole family, the mother of Yulia Navalny, who also asked journalists to stop spreading fake news about an alleged quarrel between Yulia and Navalny’s mother. According to her, both Yulia and the oppositionist’s mother are “two wonderful, courageous, strong women” who both “endlessly loved” Alexei Navalny and always helped each other.
Yulia Navalnaya’s mother assured that the politician, who “dedicated his life to the fight against corruption,” had “no villas in Italy, as they say, no apartments, no luxury houses in Moscow or other cities.”
Yulia Navalnaya published a post on Instagram** in which she said goodbye to her husband and thanked him “for 26 years of absolute happiness.” What else are they saying about Navalny on the day of his funeral – in the RTVI material.
* included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of foreign agents
** Meta’s activities in selling Facebook and Instagram products in Russia are recognized as extremist and prohibited