The burial of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny will be conducted in Moscow on Friday, with thousands risking detention to pay their respects. The ceremony will be held two weeks after Navalny died in an Arctic prison, amid pressure from his team, which accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of murdering his biggest critic. Putin, who notoriously never mentioned Navalny’s name in public, has not spoken about the tragedy, which provoked indignation among Western leaders and the Russian opposition.
The religious ceremony will take place at the Mother of God Quench My Sorrows church in Maryino, on Moscow’s outskirts, at 2:00 p.m. (1100 GMT). The body of Navalny, who had converted to Christianity, will be shown in an open coffin by Orthodox practice. Two hours later, the burial would take place in Borisovo Cemetery, a short walk from the Moskva River’s banks. The burial arrangements and the number of mourners permitted to attend are still unknown. Authorities have not stated how they will conduct the gathering, which could turn into an embarrassing display of support for Navalny. Around a dozen police officers had already patrolled the cemetery on the eve of the burial, which supporters fear may be disturbed by the Kremlin.
Navalny rose to popularity through his anti-corruption campaign
They have cause for concern: Since Navalny’s death, 400 mourners have been held at monuments, according to the rights organization OVD-Info. Yulia Navalnaya, the dissident’s widow, expressed concern that future arrests could interrupt the funeral. “I’m not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or whether the police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband,” Navalnaya told the European Parliament. She has directly accused Putin of the killing. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, has labeled claims by Navalny’s wife and Western officials blaming the Russian leader for the death as “vulgar.”.
Navalny rose to popularity through his anti-corruption campaign, which exposed what he claimed was widespread wrongdoing at the highest levels of Putin’s administration. He was detained in January 2021 when he returned to Russia after receiving treatment in Germany for a poisoning attack. “Alexei was tortured for three years,” Navalnaya told parliamentarians in Brussels. “He was starved in a tiny stone cell, cut off from the outside world, and denied visits, phone calls, and then even letters.” “Then they killed him. Even after that, they mistreated his body,” she explained.
Local investigators had threatened to bury him on the prison grounds if his mother did not agree to a “secret” funeral
His body was held for eight days, which his team suspected was an attempt to conceal blame for his death. Navalny’s family and team have also accused authorities of attempting to prevent him from receiving a decent public burial out of fear that it might become a catalyst for opposition. The team said that local investigators had threatened to bury him on the prison grounds if his mother did not agree to a “secret” funeral. After the body was released, allies struggled to find a funeral home that would agree to host the event. On Thursday, they alleged hearse drivers refused to take the body from the morgue.
“What a disgrace.” “Now the hearse drivers refuse to take Alexei from the morgue,” said Ivan Zhdanov, an exiled ally who ran Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman, said funeral directors had received threatening calls from “unknown people” telling them not to carry Navalny’s body anywhere. A civic ceremony in which the entire public might pay their respects to the body, which is customary in Russia, was also prohibited. According to Navalnaya, the family “did not want special treatment — just to give people the chance to say goodbye.”. She has promised to continue his life’s work. “The most important thing we can do for Alexei and ourselves is to continue to fight more desperately, more fiercely than before,” she went on to say.