After the funeral of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in a prison camp, people continued to say goodbye to him today at his grave in the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow, despite the police presence. Police allowed mourners to linger unhindered at the grave and lay flowers, independent Russian media reported.
Pictures of the grave site showed a sea of flowers and wreaths – and a Russian Orthodox cross with a photo of a smiling Alexei Navalny. According to authorities, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s opponent died on February 16 in a prison camp in the polar region.
Navalny’s team emphasized again on Friday evening after the funeral that the fight of the opposition, who had fled into exile abroad, against corruption and Putin’s power apparatus would continue. Navalny’s legacy will remain alive “as long as there are millions of people in Russia and the world who are not indifferent to it. That is why we must not give up.”
On the day of Navalny’s funeral, there were mourning events across the country and dozens of arrests. The civil rights portal ovd.info reported this morning that the number of arrests was more than 100, spread across 20 cities, including around 20 people in Novosibirsk alone.
In Moscow, thousands of people gathered at the church and cemetery for the funeral service on Friday. Many chanted “Putin is a murderer!” and “Russia without Putin.” Relatives, supporters and human rights activists accuse Putin of murdering his opponent in the prison camp.
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.
