Dead Kremlin critic
Navalny’s final journey: funeral service draws crowds
Men carry the coffin of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to the church. photo
© AP/dpa
The coffin with the body of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny has arrived at the church. Thousands want to say goodbye to the opposition leader.
The coffin with the Kremlin opponent who died in the prison camp Alexei Navalny arrived at the church for the funeral service.
In a live stream on YouTube, Navalny’s team showed how men pulled the brown coffin out of a black van and then carried it into the church in unison. Hundreds of thousands watched the broadcast. People at the church chanted “Navalny,” “Navalny,” “Navalny.” Some also shouted, “You were not afraid. And we are not afraid.” Western ambassadors also came to the funeral service, including the German Alexander Graf Lambsdorff.
Thousands of people waited with flowers in their hands to say goodbye to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s opponent. Many praised Navalny’s courage in his fight against Putin. Despite a large presence of police and other uniformed security forces, many of them masked, the crowd was huge.
The relatives had received the 47-year-old’s body in the morgue in Moscow in the morning with a delay for burial. After the funeral service in the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Relieve my grief” in the southeastern Mariino district, the funeral was scheduled for 4 p.m. (2 p.m. CET) at the Borisovskoye cemetery.
Even after his death, Navalny is putting the power apparatus on edge. Putin’s authorities fear that supporters of the opposition leader could protest against the Kremlin chief. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that every citizen bears responsibility for taking part in unauthorized actions on the streets. At the same time, he answered a Russian journalist’s question as to whether the Kremlin had anything to say about Navalny’s death: “No, nothing.”
Putin wants to be confirmed as president in an election in two weeks. Supporters and relatives of Navalny as well as human rights activists accuse Putin of having the Russian opposition leader murdered in custody. The Kremlin rejects this.
According to authorities, Navalny died on February 16 in the penal camp with the unofficial name “Arctic Wolf” in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal. The circumstances of his death are not clear. The politician, who was weakened by a poison attack in 2020 and repeated solitary confinement in the camp, is said to have collapsed during a tour of the icy prison yard and died despite attempts to resuscitate him. According to Navalny’s team, the death certificate mentions “natural” causes.