Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died on February 16, was buried today at the Borisovsko cemetery in Moscow. With a heavy police presence, thousands of people said goodbye to Navalny. Alexey Navalny’s parents were at the funeral, but it is not known who else from his family attended.
The service followed a battle with authorities over the handover of the body of President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic. His supporters say several churches in Moscow have refused to hold services for the man who fought against official corruption and organized large-scale protests. A number of Western leaders blamed the Russian leader for his death, which the Kremlin vigorously denied.
Navalny’s team eventually received permission from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, which today was surrounded by crowd control barriers.
When his coffin was taken out of the hearse and brought into the church, the crowd applauded as a sign of respect, and then chanted: “Navalyni! “You were not afraid, neither were we!”, and “No war!”
Western diplomats, including US Ambassador Lynn Tracy, were among those who attended the funeral, along with presidential candidates Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova. Both wanted to run against Putin in the upcoming presidential election and opposed the war in Ukraine, and neither was allowed to have their names on the ballot.
Alexey Navalny’s parents were at the funeral, but it is not known who else from his family attended. His widow, Yulia Navalnya, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg two days ago, his daughter is a student at Stanford University, and his son’s whereabouts are unknown.
The coffin was then lowered into the ground, the allies of the Russian opposition member said.
As a reminder, the Russian Penal Correctional Service announced that Alexei Navalny died on February 16 in the prison colony where he was serving his sentence. The service stated that Navalny lost consciousness after walking in the arctic Yamalo-Nenet Autonomous District, where the colony is located.
Russian authorities have conducted several inspections to determine the facts surrounding his death, and the official cause of death has not been released.
Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after being hospitalized in Germany, where he was treated for poisoning. Western countries and Navalny himself have blamed Russia for the poisoning, which the Kremlin denies. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison on charges of “extremism” and other crimes. He had already served 11.5 years on fraud charges, Agencies report.
Photo: Anadolu Agency
