The funeral of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in prison on February 16, will take place on Friday, March 1, at 2 p.m. (12 p.m. in Paris) in Moscowhis team announced on social media on Wednesday, February 28th. “The funeral service for Alexei will take place in the church (…) in Marino [quartier moscovite où habitait Alexeï Navalny] March 1 at 2 p.m. The funeral will take place at the Borisovski cemetery in the southeast of the capital, wrote Kira Yarmysh, spokeswoman for the deceased opponent.
The circumstances of Alexei Navalny's death on February 16, which caused widespread outrage around the world, remain unclear. According to the Russian Penitentiary Service, he died as a result of a sudden malaise “after a walk.” Several Western countries, including the US and Germany, have blamed Vladimir Putin.
According to Ivan Zhdanov, one of the opponent's close associates, the funeral will take place at 4 p.m. (2 p.m. in Paris), almost 20 kilometers from the red walls of the Kremlin.
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No reaction from Vladimir Putin
After several days of waiting, his body was returned to his mother. Mr. Putin, for his part, has still not responded to the death of his main critic, who narrowly survived a 2020 poisoning that he already blamed on the Kremlin chief, despite the latter's denials that he is due to speak to the Federal Assembly on Thursday for its annual Address to the nation.
Since handing over the opponent's body to his mother on Saturday, the team of the former number one Kremlin critic has been looking for a place for a “public farewell”, but has had every request “rejected”, as the authorities pressured them at funeral sites. These funerals could mobilize supporters of Vladimir Putin's former opponent in large numbers, becoming an embarrassment for the Kremlin's master, who is preparing for a new coronation at the end of the presidential election scheduled for March 15-17 without any real opposition. “Everywhere they refused to give us anything. In some places we were told it was forbidden,” Mr. Zhdanov said in a statement on Telegram, castigating “the Kremlin and …” [Sergueï] Sobyanin,” mayor of Moscow and a close confidant of Vladimir Putin.
Shortly before his death, an agreement for his release was negotiated
Alexei Navalny's team said on Monday that an agreement to exchange the opponent with Russian authorities was “underway and in the final stages” before his death 10 days ago. She assures that the opponent “should have been released in the next few days.” According to Maria Pevtchikh, another close associate of Mr. Navalny, he should have been exchanged for a Russian imprisoned in Germany along with “two American citizens detained by Moscow.”
According to Ms. Pevtchikh, her team “worked” for two years to “get” Alexei Navalny out of prison “at any cost” on the basis of an exchange of “Russian spies for political prisoners” in Russia. Washington and Berlin were aware of this, she continued, but regretted that they had “done nothing” despite initial “promises.” Neither the USA nor Germany have confirmed this.
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