Police detain Russians seen in Navalny funeral videos

MOSCOW police have detained Russians suspected of attending the funeral of opposition politician Alexei Navalny after trawling through videos from the day, local media have reported.

Thousands of mourners turned out for the funeral on the outskirts of Moscow last week with many chanting “no to war” and “Putin is a killer”.

One Moscow resident was later arrested after police claimed she could be heard in a video saying “glory to heroes”, OVD-INFO, an independent media outlet, reported.

She was allegedly held overnight on Monday at a police station and fined 1,500 rubles (£13) for violating regulations against the display of forbidden symbols.

Police issued warnings against “unauthorised gathering” before the funeral in an apparent attempt to discourage supporters of the man who led Russia’s pro-democracy movement for more than a decade.

Yesterday, two more people were detained, OVD-INFO reported. Elena Gribkova, who attended the funeral, was held by officers from the Center for Countering Extremism, which is known for harassing opposition groups.

Yegor Komlev, a Moscow resident, was brought to a police station where he was photographed and had his passport confiscated.

Officials said they recognised him from footage showing him laying flowers for Mr Navalny on two occasions in February, as well as attending Mr Navalny’s funeral last Friday.

Two weeks after Putin’s greatest challenger died in murky circumstances at a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, his family were finally permitted to lay him to rest in a carefully controlled service and burial.

Mr Navalny’s mother spent days trying to retrieve her son’s body as officials pressed her to agree a secret burial.

Defying the threats, tens of thousands of people flocked to the remote working-class Moscow neighbourhood, where the politician lived for most of his life.

Many of the mourners were wary of talking to reporters or identifying themselves, but by noon flower shops in the area were reportedly out of stock.

A Moscow resident was brought to a police station, photographed and had his passport confiscated