Thousands of people defied the threat of arrest by attending the funeral of Alexei Navalny in Moscow, embracing one of the last remaining avenues to register their anger at President Vladimir Putin as well as mourning one of the few politicians capable of standing up to the Russian leader.
The Kremlin had warned Russians against attending what it called spontaneous memorials for the opposition leader, who died in an Arctic prison camp last month. But security forces largely took a hands-off approach to the procession of mourners that made its way from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God to the cemetery where he was buried.
But the throngs of supporters who braved the security presence sent a powerful message that many Russians still support Navalny’s vision of a free, democratic Russia — and showed his pivotal role as a man who fearlessly defied Putin from prison, even as the Russian leader led his nation into war with Ukraine and a new era of repression and intolerance.
Navalny, a formidable opponent who fired up a generation of young Russians with his slogan “Russia will be free,” died Feb. 16 in prison at age 47, with an official investigation declaring that his death was due to “natural causes.” His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and aides have accused Putin of his “murder,” while many Western leaders have said Putin was responsible.
Navalny’s supporters, blocked from entering the church by riot police and metal security barriers, applauded and chanted “Navalny! Navalny!” as his hearse arrived for the farewell service. Inside Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows Church, the service was carried out with what supporters said was unseemly haste.
After his mother had paid her respects, staff brusquely closed his coffin, even as those present pleaded to be allowed to say a proper farewell, according to Russian outlet Verstka.
“Please let me say goodbye! Well, please, don’t close the coffin!” mourners in the church pleaded with the funeral agents, according to a video posted by RusNews. “He is dear to us! Please, let us say goodbye!”
Among the few allowed in the church were Navalny’s parents, Anatoly Navalny and Lyudmila Navalnaya, the latter having endured an eight-day ordeal to recover her son’s body from a morgue in the Arctic town of Salekhard. Officials there had threatened that unless she agreed to a small private burial, they would allow the body to decompose or bury it at the Polar Wolf prison, where Navalny died, she said at the time.
Navalny’s widow Yulia, daughter Daria, son Zakhar and brother Oleg, as well as members of his political team, could not attend Friday’s funeral as they live abroad for security reasons.
Both his widow and mother had expressed their firm wish for an open funeral, with Yulia Navalnaya insistent that his supporters have the chance to say farewell in the traditional way, placing flowers on his coffin.
But authorities erected hundreds of metal security barriers, blockading the entrance to the church and nearby Borisovsky Cemetery, preventing the crowd from entering or placing flowers during the church service or graveside burial.
As Navalny’s body was lowered into the ground, a funeral band played Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” followed by the theme of the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” one of Navalny’s favorites.
Peoplesmind
