Thousands of Russians chanted Alexei Navalny’s name and said they would not forgive the authorities for his death as the opposition leader was laid to rest in Moscow on Friday.
In a video streamed from the Borisovskyoe cemetery, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila and father Anatoly stooped over his open coffin to kiss him for the last time as a small group of musicians played.
Crossing themselves, mourners stepped forward to caress his face before a priest gently placed a white shroud over him and the coffin was closed.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic inside Russia, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16, sparking accusations from his supporters that he had been murdered. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death.
The authorities have outlawed his movement as extremist and cast his supporters as US-backed troublemakers out to foment revolution. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had nothing to say to Navalny’s family.
Many thousands of people turned out to pay their respects at the cemetery and outside the Soothe My Sorrows church in southeast Moscow where Orthodox priests held a short funeral service before the body was taken to the cemetery.
Among the large crowd, many people clutched bunches of flowers and some joined in chants — “Russia will be free”, “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “We won’t forgive” and “Putin is a murderer.”
Police were present in large numbers but did not intervene. Since the start of the war in Ukraine two years ago, Russia has tightened its laws to introduce long prison sentences for anyone found guilty of “discrediting” the armed forces. Putin’s leading critics are either in prison or have fled abroad.
“I came here to say goodbye to Navalny. What does that mean for me? I don’t even know how to explain it,” said a 25-year-old man who gave his name as Kirill.
“It’s very sad for the future of Russia […] We won’t give up, we will believe in something bet-ter.” A young woman, Kamila, said: “There are more than 10,000 people here, and no one is afraid […] We came here in order to honour the memory of a man who also wasn’t afraid, who wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Inside the church, Navalny’s mother Lyudmila sat holding a candle as priests in white robes stood over the coffin.
Navalny’s top aides, all based outside Russia, struggled to contain their emotions as they broadcast live video of the farewell to their leader.
“This is a photograph that is very hard to look at,” said one of them, Ruslan Shaveddinov. State media gave scant coverage of the funeral. The RIA news agency reported the fact of Navalny’s burial, noting the presence of foreign envoys including the US, French and German ambassadors, and recalled that he had been jailed on a host of charges including fraud, contempt of court and extremism.
Navalny denied all those charges, saying they had been trumped up by the authorities to silence his criticism of Putin.—AFP
