Beneath a heavy police presence, a whole bunch of individuals bade farewell to Alexey Navalny in Moscow after his nonetheless unexplained demise two weeks in the past in an Arctic penal colony.
The funeral on Friday of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic adopted a battle with authorities over the discharge of his physique.
Navalny’s supporters mentioned a number of church buildings in Moscow refused to carry a service for the person who crusaded in opposition to official corruption. Many Western leaders blamed his demise on the Russian president, an accusation the Kremlin rejects.
Navalny’s workforce finally obtained permission from the Church of the Icon of Our Girl Quench My Sorrows, which was encircled by crowd-control boundaries on Friday. Hours earlier than the funeral began, a whole bunch of individuals waited to enter below the watch of police.
Western diplomats have been noticed within the lengthy line together with presidential hopefuls Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova. Each wished to run in opposition to Putin on this month’s presidential election and oppose his warfare in Ukraine. Neither was allowed on the poll.
After the hearse arrived on the church, the coffin was taken out of the automobile as the gang applauded and chanted: “Navalny! Navalny!” Some additionally shouted: “You weren’t afraid. Neither are we!”
A photograph from contained in the church confirmed an open coffin with Navalny’s physique lined with pink and white flowers and his mom sitting beside it holding a candle. Navalny’s father was additionally current, but it surely wasn’t clear who else in his household attended.
His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, is exterior Russia and didn’t attend the funeral. Their daughter is a scholar at Stanford College in California, and the whereabouts of their son are unknown.
The politician’s closest associates have all left Russia below stress and watched the funeral, footage of which was streamed dwell on his YouTube channel, from overseas.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov urged these gathering in Moscow and different locations to not break the legislation, saying any “unauthorised gatherings” are violations.
A burial adopted on the close by Borisovskoye Cemetery, the place police additionally confirmed up in drive. Crowds from the church marched there after the funeral ended, chanting: “No to warfare” and “Love is extra highly effective than concern.”