In Moscow, on Friday, March 1, opposition politician Oleksiy Navalny, who died in a Russian prison on February 16, was buried at the Borysiv Cemetery.
About this informs Meduza, as well as other mass media and Navalny’s team.
Navalny’s funeral took place in the church of the icon of the Mother of God “Tame my sorrows” in Maryino. It lasted less than 20 minutes. Only relatives and friends were allowed to enter the church.
The ambassadors of the European Union and the USA, as well as politicians Borys Nadezhdin, Darya Duntsova, Yevhen Roizman, came to Marino to say goodbye. According to “Meduza”, US ambassador Lynn Tracy, German ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, French ambassador Pierre Levy and diplomatic representatives of some other EU countries were seen near the temple.
Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow. Photo: Navalny’s team on the social network Kh
Correspondent for Novaya Gazeta informsthat no more than three hundred people were able to say goodbye to Navalny in the church – “the funeral was held so quickly.”
IT specialist Mykhailo Klimaryov reportedthat in the Mar’ino district, where the farewell to the politician took place, the authorities turned off the Internet.
“We confirm everything: in Russia, a case of a mobile shutdown has been recorded once more – disconnection of the Internet by order of the authorities,” he wrote.
According to Klimaryov, the base stations were switched to the outdated 3G mode, which has restrictions on simultaneous connections.
People gather outside the Quench My Sorrows Church of the Mother of God before the start of a memorial service for the late Russian opposition leader Oleksiy Navalny in Moscow’s Marino district on March 1, 2024. Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
A hearse carrying the coffin of the late Russian opposition leader Oleksii Navalny leaves the “Soothe My Sorrows” Church of the Mother of God to the Borysiv Cemetery for Navalny’s burial in Moscow’s Maryno district, March 1, 2024. Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
Law enforcement officers leave the “Soothe My Sorrows” Church of the Mother of God following a memorial service for the late Russian opposition leader Oleksiy Navalny in Moscow’s Marino district on March 1, 2024. Photo: ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
The coffin with the body of Alexei Navalny was lowered into the grave to the music of Frank Sinatra’s My Way. During the funeral, the music from the final scene of the movie “Terminator 2” played at the cemetery, Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh reported.
Lyudmila and Anatoly Navalny, parents of Russian opposition leader Oleksii Navalny, at a farewell ceremony for their son at the Borysiv Cemetery in the Maryino district of Moscow on March 1, 2024. Photo: OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images
According to mass media, people who wanted to say goodbye to Oleksiy Navalny went en masse to the Borisiv cemetery.
The queue of those willing to say goodbye to Navalny stretched for several kilometers, “Dozhd” reports. People chanted “No war!”. Later, security forces began to drive people to the cemetery.
It is reported that thousands of people came to say goodbye to Navalny.
For data “Meduzy”, the people who came to say goodbye to Navalny, told regarding the provocateurs in the crowd who offered to “go to the Kremlin”. The police let them through the barricade with a conditional sign.
Around 5:30 p.m. outside Kyiv, Navalny’s grave began to be buried. Thousands of people did not have time to say goodbye to him, “Dozhd” reports. However, people continue to visit the cemetery and organize spontaneous memorials to the memory of the politician.
Meanwhile wife of politician Yulia Navalna published a farewell post to her husband on social networks. She also published a video clip with Oleksiy to the Russian singer Zemfira’s track “Hochesh”.
“Lyosha, thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness. Yes, even for the last three years of happiness. For love, for always supporting me, for making me laugh even from prison, for always thinking of me” , — wrote the politician’s wife.
She added that she does not know how she will live without him. According to Navalny, she will try to live so that her husband “up there, rejoices for her and is proud of her.”
The politician’s associates published tweets on the day of Oleksiy Navalny’s funeral. They might not be present at Oleksiy’s funeral for security reasons, write “Medusa”.
Earlier, Navalny’s associates said that they might not find a hall in Moscow to hold a farewell ceremony for the politician due to the refusal of ritual agencies and venues to provide them with such a service. According to Yarmysh, in some organizations they were told that the premises were occupied, in others they refused to provide services when the name of the oppositionist was mentioned.
The body of Oleksiy Navalny was given to his mother Lyudmila on Saturday, February 24. Before that, he was not released to his relatives for several days. Lyudmila Navalny reported that the Investigative Committee gave her an ultimatum: either she agrees to the secret funeral of her son without a public farewell, or Navalny will be buried in the cemetery where the colony has a plot.
What is known regarding Navalny’s death in a Russian prison
On Friday, February 16, Russia announced that opposition leader Oleksii Navalny died in prison following a walk.
On February 17, Kira Yarmysh, the press secretary of Navalny’s Russian opposition party, confirmed his death in prison and stated that Navalny was killed. Later, Yarmysh wrote that Navalny’s lawyer and mother went to the Salekhard morgue, but it turned out to be closed, although the colony assured that the morgue was working and the oppositionist’s body was there.
The German publication Bild reported that the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin wanted to get the agent Vadym Krasikov, who is sitting in a German prison. It was discussed that in exchange Putin would release Navalny.
On February 19, Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, stated that the cause of death of Russian opposition leader Oleksii Navalny “has not yet been established.”
On February 19, the high representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, before the meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers, proposed to rename the European sanctions regime for human rights violations in honor of Navalny.
On February 22, Navalny’s mother said that she had been shown her son’s body, but the Russian authorities set conditions for where and how he should be buried. In addition, according to her, she began to be “threatened”.
Subsequently, associates of Navalny, who died in prison, said that the exchange of the politician was being prepared and linked his death to the exchange.
