Navalny’s memorial service likely to be postponed +++ Large crowds in Moscow “Shutdown” averted in the US – Congress votes for short-term solution

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11:27

Big crowds in front of the church

As a video by the German ARD journalist Ina Ruck shows, there is a long queue in front of the church.

the end of the line of mourners. Two hours before the funeral service started, the line was hundreds of meters long, at least half a kilometer pic.twitter.com/zUEj7YOQ9W

— Ina Ruck (@InaRuck) March 1, 2024

11:18

Now Navalny’s family has received the body

The relatives of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in a prison camp two weeks ago, received the 47-year-old’s body this morning for burial at the Moscow morgue this morning. Employee Ivan Zhdanov said: “The hearse with Alexei’s body could be on its way to the church at any moment. If there are no obstacles, the journey takes about an hour.”

11:11

Navalny team: Family has not received body yet

The relatives of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in the prison camp two weeks ago, initially did not receive the 47-year-old’s body at the Moscow morgue for burial this morning.

They got there at 10 a.m. local time (8 a.m. CET) but had not yet received the body, Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysch said on Friday. The reasons are not clear. There may be delays in the memorial service and burial. Despite the large presence of police and security forces, many people gathered in front of the church.

At the church in honor of the Mother of God icon ‘Relieve my sorrow’ in the southeastern neighborhood of Marjino, people crowded past metal bars to say goodbye to the opposition leader. Many carried flowers in their hands. A funeral service is planned for 2:00 PM local time (12:00 CET) at the church. The funeral is scheduled two hours later at the Borisovskoye cemetery.

When and where should Navalny be buried?

The funeral service at the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Relieve my Sorrow” in the southeastern district of Marjino is scheduled for 2 p.m. local time (12 p.m. CET), as Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysch confirmed on Thursday.

The funeral will take place two hours later at the Borisovskoye cemetery, about half an hour’s walk away.

The German Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, also wants to attend, the German Press Agency learned upon request. It is feared that the Russian power apparatus will take tough action against Navalny’s supporters.

How big is the crowd?

Despite a large police and security presence, hundreds of people gathered hours before the funeral.

At the church honoring the Mother of God icon “Relieve My Sorrow” in the southeastern neighborhood of Marjino, hundreds of people crowded past metal bars to bid farewell to the opposition leader.

How large will the security presence be?

On Thursday, police took up positions in front of the cemetery and checked IDs and bags of passers-by. In addition, numerous barriers were brought to the cemetery grounds. In recent weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested across Russia for wanting to lay flowers at monuments to the well-known opposition politician.

What caused problems?

Navalny spokeswoman Yarmysch also complained on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that authorities continued to hinder preparations for the funeral service. It has still not been possible to organize a hearse to take Navalny’s body to the churchshe wrote on Thursday afternoon.

Funeral homes in Moscow received threatening phone calls from unknown people warning them not to transport the body. “Despite all resistance, Alexei’s farewell will certainly take place tomorrow,” she confirmed.

It is far from the first time that Navalny’s relatives and supporters have reported pressure and attempts at blackmail by Russian authorities. What caused particular horror was that authorities initially kept Navalny’s body under lock and key for about a week and mother Lyudmila Navalnaya had to search for the body with a lawyer in the Arctic.

Then the power apparatus wanted to force her to hold her son’s funeral in secret, as Lyudmila Navalnaya said several times. However, she opposed this and publicly demanded that Russians be given the opportunity to say goodbye to Navalny.

Finally, Navalny’s team stated that they wanted to organize a location for the funeral service. However, the search was, as expected, difficult. They found no room in which Navalny’s body would be laid out before the funeral service – as is customary in Russian Orthodox tradition – that was open to all mourners. That is why only a prayer service and a funeral are now allowed to take place. Shortly before the presidential elections on March 17, all major critical events are a thorn in the side of the Kremlin.

How did Navalny die?

According to official information, Navalny died on February 16 at the age of 47 in a prison camp north of the Arctic Circle. The sharp critic of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was physically weakened by a poison attack in 2020 and continued solitary confinement in the camp.

His supporters and many international observers agree that there can be no ‘natural’ cause of death, as stated in the death certificate. (sda/dpa)