Thousands Throng Moscow Church, Cemetery To Bid Navalny Farewell

A screengrab of Alexey Navalny’s funeral Service from X, formerly Twitter

More than a fortnight after his death was announced by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexey Navalny was buried in Moscow’s Borisovskoye cemetery on late Friday afternoon after a brief church service.

Chants of “Navalny, Navalny” rent the air as thousands of Muscovites –armed with flowers and cellphones — lined the route of his funeral procession as riot police and other security agencies kept vigil.

Navalny, 47, described by many as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, reportedly died on February 16 after a walk in IK 3, Polar Wolf, a remote prison colony in Kharp, western Siberia, where he was serving a 19-year sentence after being convicted for fraud, embezzlement and extremism. The closed-door trials took place soon after his return in 2020 from Germany, after recovering from poisoning by a nerve agent that he blamed on the Kremlin. Navalny’s family and leaders around the world have blamed President Putin for his death.

Authorities refused to hand over his body to his family for more than a week, citing a “chemical investigation.” On February 23, Navlany’s widow Yulia Navalnaya announced that his mother Lyudmila Navalnaya had refused repeated demands by officials that the burial be held in secret. A day later, Navalny’s body was handed over to the family.

However, several churches, funeral parlours and other commercial venues refused to participate in or allow any memorial service for Navalny on their premises. “Some of them say the place is fully booked. Some refuse when we mention the surname ‘Navalny.’ In one place, we were told that the funeral agencies were forbidden to work with us,” Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said Tuesday. “After a day of searching, we still haven’t found the farewell hall.”

Finally, The Russian Orthodox Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows on the southeastern outskirts of the capital agreed to allow a short ceremony. A large contingent of security forces along the route of the funeral procession failed to deter thousands of people from chanting Navalny’s name as the hearse, escorted by several police vehicles, headed for the church. Earlier, there were reports that the morgue where Navalny’s body was kept was delaying its release.

A photo from the ceremony showed Navalny’s body in an open casket, covered with white and red flowers, with his mother and father sitting nearby. US Ambassador to Moscow Lynn Tracy, French Ambassador Pierre Levy and German Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff were among other senior diplomats that attended the service.

Navalny’s widow Yulia, who lives in Germany, has pledged to carry on her husband’s fight. While she and their children, daughter Darya and son Zahkar, did not attend the funeral, Yulia posted a video tribute on Instagram, thanking her husband for “26 years of absolute happiness.”
Several thousand people flocked the heavily guarded route from the church to the nearby Borisovskoye Cemetery after the service. “Forgive us! We won’t forget you” chanted some as the coffin was lowered into the cold earth.

According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Yarmysh, Not only was (Frank) Sinatra’s “My Way” performed as Navalny’s coffin was interred, the theme from the hit series “Terminator” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. was also played.”
The most famous line from the movie? “I’ll be back.”

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