Today is a sad day for Russia. Two weeks after his death in an Arctic penal colony, Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most vociferous opponent, has been buried in Moscow. Thousands of mourners lined the streets in southern Moscow to pay their respects, their sorrow compounded with a sense of anger and defiance that grew as the funeral wore on. Addressed quite clearly to Vladimir Putin, shouts of ‘We won’t forgive you’ intermingled with chants of Navalny’s name and ‘There are more of us’. The odd verse of harmonious Russian Orthodox sung funeral liturgy occasionally broke through the noise.
The funeral took place at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows’ in the south Moscow district of Maryino. The queue of mourners stretched to over three kilometres. Navalny’s team streamed the entire event on his YouTube channel, to which nearly 300,000 viewers tuned in.
In death, as in life, Navalny is recognised by Putin as a threat to his authority
Only close family and friends were allowed into the church itself.
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