Thousands attend Navalny’s funeral
Heavy police presence at Moscow burial
Under a heavy police presence, thousands of people bade farewell Friday to opposition leader Alexei Navalny at his funeral in Moscow after his still-unexplained death two weeks ago in an Arctic penal colony.
Navalny was buried at a cemetery in the snowy southeastern outskirts of the capital after a short Russian Orthodox ceremony, with vast crowds waiting outside the church and then streaming to the fresh grave of President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic with flowers and anti-government chants.
Although riot police set up barricades at both the church and cemetery, no detentions were reported. When his death was announced Feb. 16, police in cities in Russia detained hundreds who tried to leave flowers at memorials.
Navalny’s widow, Yulia, who was not seen at the funeral but has vowed to continue his work, lovingly thanked him for “26 years of absolute happiness.”
“I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to do it in a way that you up there are proud of me and happy for me,” she wrote on Instagram.
The funeral followed a battle with authorities over the release of his body. His team said several Moscow churches refused to hold the funeral for the man who crusaded against official corruption and organized massive protests. Many Western leaders blamed the death on Putin, an accusation the Kremlin angrily rejected.
Navalny’s team eventually got permission from a church, which was surrounded by barriers.
As his coffin was removed from the hearse and taken inside the church, the crowd broke into applause and then chanted: “Navalny! Navalny!” Some also shouted, “You weren’t afraid, neither are we!” and later “No to war!” “Russia without Putin!” and “Russia will be free!”
Western diplomats, including U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, were among the mourners. Also paying respects were Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova, antiwar politicians who wanted to run against Putin in this month’s presidential election but were not allowed on the ballot.
Inside the church, Navalny’s open casket showed him covered with red and white flowers. His parents sat beside it.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged those gathering in Moscow and other places not to break the law, saying any “unauthorized (mass) gatherings” are violations.
After the short church service, thousands marched to the nearby Borisovskoye Cemetery, where the police were also out in force.
As the coffin was lowered into the ground, in keeping with his irreverent sense of humour, music from the “The Terminator 2” was played, a movie his allies said he considered “the best in the world.”