2024-03-02 03:01:00
The Russian opponent Alexei Navalny was buried this Friday in a Moscow cemetery, before thousands of sympathizers who paid tribute to the Kremlin’s main detractor, who died in unclarified circumstances in an Arctic prison.
Security forces arrested “at least 91 people in 19 cities” – 14 in the Russian capital – during rallies in tribute to the former anti-corruption activist, said the NGO OVD-Info.
Holding flowers, some crying, Navalny’s supporters gathered near the cemetery and many chanted slogans against the Kremlin and its offensive in Ukraine, such as “No to war!” and “We will not forget you!”
After a brief ceremony in a church in Marino, a district in the southeast of the capital, his remains were buried in the nearby Borisovo cemetery. At the time of the funeral, the soundtrack of the movie Terminator 2 played, which the deceased praised as “the best film ever made,” said his spokesperson, Kira Yarmish.
All eyes are on Putin
The funeral took place two weeks after the death of the 47-year-old opponent, which occurred on February 16 in a prison in the Arctic. His collaborators, his widow, and Western powers accuse President Putin of his death, who denies the accusations.
Navalny’s body was held for eight days and the family had difficulty finding a place that would agree to host the ceremony. Only a small number of people could enter the church. There, as the Orthodox rite dictates, the body was exposed to the public for the first time, covered in red and white flowers.
The hearse arrived shortly before to the applause of thousands of people guarded by riot police. “It’s painful, people like him should not die, honest, principled people, willing to sacrifice themselves,” said Anna Stepanova. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov warned that any “unauthorized” demonstration on the occasion of the funeral could be sanctioned.
“Living without you”
In a message published on social networks, Yulia Navalnaya, the opponent’s widow, thanked her for “26 years of absolute happiness.” “I don’t know how I’m going to live without you but I will do what I can so that you are happy and proud of me up there,” she said. “I will always love you”.
The opponent’s brother, Oleg Navalni, wrote: “Sleep peacefully, brother, and don’t worry about anything.” The funeral was attended by three prominent figures of the Russian opposition, Evegeni Roizman, Boris Nadezhdin and Ekaterina Duntsova, as well as the ambassadors of the US, France and Germany.
“We no longer have politicians like that and no one knows when there will be again,” said Maria, a 55-year-old librarian, who said she felt both “fear and sadness.” Denis, a 26-year-old volunteer at a charity association, said Navalny was the one who made him “interested in politics” in a country with an increasingly authoritarian regime.
Tributes abroad
Navalny’s team had called on Muscovites to say goodbye to the deceased and to his supporters in other cities and abroad, to gather in front of memorials, acts that are annoying for the government, especially two weeks before the presidential elections that will surely confirm Putin in power.
Nearly 300 people gathered in front of the Russian embassy in London to pay tribute to the opponent. There were events in memory of him in Berlin and Belgrade. In Paris, dozens of people gathered in silence near the Eiffel Tower.
In the days after Navalny’s death, nearly 400 people were detained by police in several improvised rallies. Navalny was poisoned in 2020 and narrowly survived, an attack he accused Putin of. He left the country dying, survived thanks to treatment he received in Germany, returned to Russia and was sentenced to 19 years in prison for “extremism.” He was the only politician who mobilized a large number of people, especially in Moscow.
His political movement denounced the corruption of Russian elites and was dismantled. Many of his collaborators were imprisoned or forced into exile. Widow Navalnaya promised to continue her husband’s fight. Leonid Volkov, an ally of the deceased, promised that his team “will not give up.” “Good always wins over evil,” he said.
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