In the days following Alexei Navalny's death, people continued to come out to lay flowers at two sites in the heart of Moscow to commemorate victims of Soviet repression.
One is the Solovetsky Stone, next to the FSB headquarters on Lubyanka Square; The other is the so-called “Wall of Sorrow”, a more recent memorial site, which is as intensely emotive as the name suggests.
Police asks them to move on and not stay.
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After nearly 400 arrests in cities across the country, people know they risk arrest if they stay out of their welcome or do so much as hold up a banner or photo of Navalny.
Men in civilian clothes and masks, supposedly from Russia's Federal Security Service, keep watch with video cameras in hand, photographing or photographing visitors' tracks.
It's not clear what they'll do with the material other than store it for later use, but this makes the already tense atmosphere even more unsettling.
On Sunday afternoon, while we were filming at Solovetsky Stone, we were told that we had seven minutes to film.
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Russia: An Eyewitness Novel by Diana Magni
We took the police at their word.
Throughout the Russian capital, the security presence is noticeably higher than usual, with OMON riot police stationed alongside regular forces.
There is nothing in terms of numbers about some of the demonstrations when Navalny returns in 2021 or at the beginning of the war, but for people laying carnations, it is a lot.
However, this is a security state. It's expected.
The fact that there were so many still coming to pay their respects even on the third day after his death shows the extent of Navalny's influence — and the loss felt by so many in Russia that he died in the name of their freedom.
