Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow

On Friday, a funeral was held in Moscow for opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who died in a colony in the Arctic. The church where Mr. Navalny’s funeral was held did not accommodate everyone who wanted to say goodbye. Later, the politician’s supporters were able to lay flowers at his grave at the Borisov cemetery, although to do this they had to stand in a queue for many hours.

Alexei Navalny lived in Maryino, so the family decided to hold the funeral and farewell in the local church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows.” According to media reports, before his imprisonment, Mr. Navalny visited this temple; here, in particular, his son Zakhar was baptized.

The funeral service was to begin at 14:00. People who wanted to say goodbye to the politician began to come long before this time. The small church quickly filled up, after which the police blocked the entrance to the courtyard. So a queue arose, and this queue gradually grew: first it stretched along Maryinsky Boulevard, then turned onto Lugovoy Proezd, broke at the zebra crossing across the highway and then continued along Novomaryinskaya Street. Periodically in line they chanted: “A-lek-say!” The police did not provide official data on the number of people gathered on Friday.

The funeral service lasted about 20 minutes. At the end of the service, the coffin was carried out of the church to applause and chants of Mr. Navalny’s famous phrase “Love is stronger than fear.”

Other slogans were also heard, which the police usually try to stop, but this time there were no arrests.

At the gates of the temple, right next to the line of riot police, three girls stood: one was holding a poster “Don’t give up,” the second was holding a mug with the inscription “One for all, and all for one,” the third was holding a photograph of Alexei Navalny. The Kommersant correspondent watched the girls for several minutes – and all this time the police did not react to them.

Many of those who were unable to attend the funeral service went to the Borisovskoye cemetery – about 2 km from the temple. Now the line is lined up along the long Borisovskie Prudy street. The police blocked off the roadway with metal barriers and divided the line into several segments. People who wanted to lay flowers on the grave had to wait several hours. From time to time the queue chanted: “Hello, it’s Navalny!” — this is how the politician began his video streams.

Meanwhile, at the cemetery they said goodbye to Alexei Navalny to the song “My Way” by Frank Sinatra.

The coffin was lowered into the ground to the music from the second “Terminator” – the politician said many times that this was his favorite film.

Officially, the cemetery was supposed to close at 17:00 – but it continued to work. The police allowed about 50 people into the grave, so the line moved very slowly. When it got completely dark, people turned on the flashlights on their mobile phones. Those who could not wait left flowers and candles in the courtyards near the Borisovo metro station – this is how several spontaneous memorials appeared. At 22:20 the line ended and the police announced that the cemetery was closing.

Let us remind you that the death of Alexei Navalny in IK-3 “Polar Wolf” was reported on February 16 by the FSIN department for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. There he served his sentence in the case of creating an extremist community – 19 years of strict regime. He had previously been convicted of other crimes, including fraud. The message from the Federal Penitentiary Service said that after the walk, Navalny felt unwell and lost consciousness. The body of Alexei Navalny was handed over to his mother on February 24. On March 1, the Public Monitoring Commission of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug stated that it had found no violations in the colony where Alexei Navalny died.

Society department