MOSCOW: Over 115 people have been arrested across Russia for commemorating the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, CNN reported, citing monitoring group OVD-Info. OVD-Info is an independent media and human rights defence group focused on monitoring and combating repression in Russia.
Novosibirsk witnessed the highest detentions, with 16 individuals taken into custody. Moscow, where Navalny was interred, saw at least 10 detentions, while Yekaterinburg and the Voronezh region had 10 and 14 detentions, respectively.
Other cities, including Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Vladikavkaz, Sochi, St Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, and Ulan-Ude, also reported detentions.
Despite a substantial police presence and the threat of detainment, thousands gathered in Moscow for Navalny’s funeral. The funeral service, held at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows’, displayed an open casket with Navalny’s face covered in flowers, and his coffin was lowered to the strains of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’.
The burial occurred at Borisovsky cemetery in Moscow’s Maryino district, where Navalny resided. His parents, including his father Anatoly, and foreign diplomats, such as US Ambassador Lynne Tracy, attended. Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who lives abroad, expressed concerns about potential police crackdowns on mourners.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov conveyed no condolences to Navalny’s family, but cautioned against unauthorised memorials, emphasising legal consequences for participants.
As Navalny’s body arrived at the church, mourners clapped, and chants of ‘Navalny’, ‘no to war’, and ‘Russia without Putin’ echoed.
Following the ceremony, some attendees overturned crowd control barriers to follow the funeral procession. Numerous people congregated at the burial site, forming a line several hundred metres long at the Brateyevsky Bridge. Attendees expressed defiance, stating they were unafraid of potential repercussions from the government for their participation, according to CNN.
In a poignant moment captured in videos shared by Navalny’s team, his father Anatoly kissed his son’s forehead during the burial.
US Ambassador Tracy was also present at the ceremony. Yulia Navalnaya, in a pre-funeral video, thanked Navalny for 26 years of happiness, expressing uncertainty about life without him. She pledged to strive for happiness and pride, acknowledging the difficulty of the journey ahead.
Navalny’s funeral drew attention to the widespread sentiment against the government, with mourners boldly expressing their discontent. The footage of individuals pushing barriers and streaming towards the burial site highlighted a collective determination to pay respects to the late opposition figure, undeterred by potential consequences, CNN reported. (ANI)
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