Alexei Navalny was laid to rest in Moscow at the Church of the Icon of Our Lady Quench My Sorrows on Friday, following his unexplainable death in jail on February 6, which many globally have blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for. Navalny was Putin’s most outspoken political critic who was locked away at an arctic penal colony in 2021 for 19 years.
Thousands of mourners joined the funeral procession, calling Navalny a “true hero”, which is the largest opposition gathering since his jailing resulting in more than 100 people across Russia being detained after the Kremlin warned against unauthorized memorials for Navalny. The OVD-Info, a rights group that tracks political arrests, reported that many of those detained were trying to lay flowers on monuments dedicated to victims of political repression.
The people in attendance protested Putin and Russia’s war on Ukraine by chanting a number of slogans, which turned Navalny’s funeral into the largest dissent gathering since the Ukrainian invasion began two years ago.
Navalny’s immediate family, his widow Yulia and children Daria, Zakhar, and Oleg were not present and thought to be living abroad to avoid persecution by Russia’s government for continuing Navalny’s political work.
Since Yulia wasn’t in attendance, she released a public statement for her husband’s funeral.
“I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to make you up there happy for me and proud of me,” said Navalny.
Navalny’s parents, Lyudmila and Anatoly, did attend his funeral, where they sat by the open casket before their son was lowered into the ground.
Russian authorities still haven’t released the official cause of death, citing that the 47-year-old died of natural causes following a court appearance captured on video where he was seen relatively in good health joking around with officials.
Prior to Navalny’s imprisonment, he was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, which prompted him to encourage Russians to “not give up” in the event of his death; many cling to these words.
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