Navalny, the formidable opposition figure who inflamed a generation of young Russians with his slogan “Russia will be free,” died on February 16 in prison at the age of 47, with an official investigation declaring his death due to “natural causes.” His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and her aides accused Putin of “murdering” him, while several Western leaders said Putin was responsible.
Navalny's supporters, who were prevented from entering the church by riot police and metal security barriers, applauded and chanted “Navalny!” Navalny! When his body arrived for the farewell party. Inside the Church of the Mother of God to Soothe My Sorrows, the service was carried out in what supporters described as inappropriately hasty.
After his mother paid their respects, staff rudely sealed his coffin, even as those present demanded to be allowed to say a proper farewell, according to Russian outlet Verstka.
“Please let me say goodbye! Well, please, don’t close the coffin!” Mourners in the church appealed to the funeral agents, according to a video clip published by RusNews. “He is dear to us! Please, let's say goodbye! “
Among the few allowed into the church were Navalny's parents, Anatoly Navalny and Lyudmila Navalnaya, the latter of whom endured an eight-day ordeal to retrieve her son's body from the morgue in the Arctic town of Salekhard. Officials there threatened that unless she agreed to a small, private burial, they would allow the body to decompose or be buried at Polar Wolf Prison, where Navalny died, she said at the time.
Navalny's widow Yulia, his daughter Daria, son Zakhar and brother Oleg, as well as members of his political team, were unable to attend Friday's funeral because they live abroad for security reasons.
His widow and mother expressed their strong desire to hold an open funeral, with Yulia Navalnaya insisting that his supporters have the opportunity to bid him farewell in the traditional way, and to place flowers on his coffin.
But authorities set up hundreds of metal security barriers, closed the entrance to the church and the nearby Borisovsky Cemetery, and prevented crowds from entering or placing flowers during church services or graveside burials.
As Navalny's body was lowered to the ground, a funeral band played Frank Sinatra's “My Way,” followed by the theme from “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” one of Navalny's favorite films.
A small number of the thousands of citizens who flocked to the cemetery were later let in and allowed to throw dirt on the casket, but Navalny's ally Ruslan Shaveddinov said police blocked the bulk of the crowd, “and it seems that the bulk of the people I will not be able to say goodbye today.” “
The contrast between Navalny's hasty funeral, attended by enthusiastic supporters, and Putin's lavish state of the nation address the day before, could not be starker. Standing alone on a vast stage as the country's supreme leader, the Russian president spoke for nearly two hours to an audience of Russia's elite, many of whom appeared to be struggling to stay awake.
Navalny's widow bid him farewell on Friday in a message on Instagram, saying: “Thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness.” Yes, until the last three years of happiness,” he said, referring to his imprisonment upon his return to the country in 2021 after recovering in Germany from poisoning at the hands of Russian security agents.
She remembered that he used to make her laugh “even from prison,” and “you were always thinking about me.” Navalnaya, who pledged to continue her political work to oppose Putin and build a free and liberal Russia, wrote that she would do her best to make him happy and proud.
“I don't know if I can handle it or not, but I'll try.” She ended her message by saying: “Love you forever. Rest in peace.”
For a generation of young pro-democracy activists, Navalny's burial marks the death of their dream of a more just, democratic, and Eurosceptic Russia, with casualties mounting in the war against Ukraine and Putin, determined to cling to power and crush even petty opposition. Within Russia. A blank protest sign, graffiti, or social media post can be punished with a long prison sentence.
Even from prison, isolated from his family and supporters, Navalny has succeeded in shrinking Putin, tearing apart his corrupt and aggressive regime and a war that Navalny believes has stained all Russians with Ukrainian blood.
Putin, who has sharply restricted democratic rights and freedom of expression, portrays civic activists and opposition democrats like Navalny as paid Western agents working to destroy the country from within.
But Navalny has emerged as a particular threat to the Kremlin because of his sense of humor and energy, his appeal to a new, younger generation of activists and his ability to mobilize a network across the country.
Many of the thousands waiting in line outside the church understood the risks of attending, amid warnings of possible arrests, but they showed up anyway. On a cold, overcast day, the line stretched for blocks, people wearing winter coats and holding bouquets of flowers.
Only a few people approached the church, the cemetery or Navalny's coffin, after walls of masked riot police divided and controlled the crowds, cordoning them off with metal barricades.
“I feel absolutely helpless at this moment,” said Sergei, 50, a Moscow businessman. “The authorities have just shown us how strong their grip is on us.”
“It was a complete siege,” he said, and he, like other mourners, refused to reveal his full name for fear of retaliation from the Russian authorities. “They let us gather here, but that was it. We couldn’t do anything, see anything, or say anything.”
But others said this was the first time in two years that they “could breathe,” an opportunity to walk with friends, cry and cheer Navalny’s name.
Dmitry, 29, and Vasilisa, 28, who are friends, said they were “very happy” because people came out in their thousands, allowing them to feel a glimmer of freedom.
“This is the first time in many years that I don't feel lonely,” Vasilisa said. “Living in silence is just suffocation. We all saw today that we are not alone.”
Alexander (25 years old) said that he attended all the street protests before the war. On Friday, he wore a mask in an attempt to avoid detection by Moscow's video surveillance system.
“I'm scared, honestly,” he said. But for me, Navalny represented strength, courage and love.”
The Russian elite stayed away from Navalny's funeral. When asked about the funeral, one Russian businessman declined to comment because “it's like this now… Well, you understand yourself.”
“A young, strong, brave man has died. Of course, it's terrible, but what can you do? That's how life is now. Terrible. Please don't remind me.”
Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said the Russian elite would not support Navalny, whatever their own feelings, because “they are afraid.” They are in the same submarine as Putin. “None of them can utter a single word.”
He added that although Putin eliminated political opposition in Russia, many people still came to attend the funeral.
This show of defiance by Russian civil society threatens Putin's regime, he said, “in the sense that it undermines the myth that people have rallied around the powers that be.”
There is a feeling that there are a lot of people who are dissatisfied with the current system. “Those who came to bid farewell to Navalny express exactly this,” he said.
As Navalny's parents left the church, looking emotional, mourners outside shouted, “Thank you! Thank you, your son!” and scattered flowers on the casket.
Ebel reported from Moscow. Dixon from Riga, Latvia; Ilyushina from Berlin; Bilton from London.
