After the funeral of Kremlin critic Navalny, a number of people were apparently arrested in Russia: According to a non-governmental organization, there were more than 100 arrests. Chancellor Scholz praised the courage of the people.
On the day of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s funeral, police in Russia arrested more than 100 people across the country in connection with the expressions of mourning, according to civil rights activists.
The civil rights platform OWD-Info wrote in the evening of 128 arrests in 19 cities. “There may be more arrestees in any police station than in the published lists,” it said. In most cases, those affected were released after a short time.
17 arrests in Moscow
Most of the arrests took place in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. At least 31 people were taken into custody there, reports OWD-Info. In the Ural metropolis of Yekaterinburg, police arrested another 19 people. There are said to be 17 people in Moscow, three of whom had to spend the night at the station, it said.
Numerous people gathered in front of the church in the Marjino district in southeast Moscow as the funeral service for the prominent opposition figure took place there. Metal barriers were set up in the square in front of the church and a large number of security forces were on site.
Scholz praises the courage of the participants
Chancellor Olaf Scholz praised the courage of the Russians who took part in Navalny’s funeral in Moscow. They “took a big risk – for freedom,” Scholz wrote on X. Navalny paid for his fight for democracy and freedom with his life.
Some European diplomats such as the German ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff also gave Navalny his last escort. “I was deeply moved by the sympathy of so many people in Moscow,” Lambsdorff told the “Bild” newspaper afterwards. “Today we saw the other, human Russia that exists and that longs for freedom and peace,” emphasized the diplomat.
Navalny was then buried in the nearby Borisovskoye Cemetery in the presence of his parents. A crowd gathered near the cemetery chanted slogans such as “No to war,” “We will not forget you” and “We will not forgive.” After the funeral, numerous people walked past Navalny’s grave, laid flowers or paused for a moment in remembrance.