From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 1 hour ago, updated 17 minutes ago
Alexei Navalny's mother (left) and his widow's mother (right). Stringer / Portal
Lyudmila Navalnaïa was already present at the coffin burial on Friday and went again early Saturday morning to her grave, decorated with flowers and wreaths, at the Borisovo cemetery in the south of Moscow.
The mother of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's chief critic who died in prison under unclear circumstances, visited his grave on Saturday, a day after a funeral where thousands of Russians paid their respects and risked arrest. Alexei Navalny, the Russian president's harshest critic in more than a decade, died on February 16 at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence for “extremism.” The numerous trials brought against him were widely denounced as a way to punish him for his opposition to Vladimir Putin.
The opponent's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaïa, was already present at the coffin burial on Friday and went again early Saturday morning to his grave decorated with flowers and wreaths at the Borisovo cemetery south of Moscow, AFP journalists reported. She was accompanied by Alla Abrossimova, the mother of Alexei Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaïa.
Alexei Navalny's mother (left) and his widow's mother (right). Stringer / Portal
Constant police presence at the cemetery
As for Yulia Navalnaïa, the couple's two children and Alexei Navalny's brother live abroad and were not present at the funeral, where they could have been arrested for opposing the Russian president. Alexei Navalny's widow has vowed to continue her husband's work and has repeatedly said in recent days that Vladimir Putin “murdered” him. AFP journalists on Saturday saw a small number of mourners laying flowers at his grave and a continued police presence at the cemetery near the banks of the Moskva River.
Read alsoIn Moscow, the last brave tribute from Navalny's supporters
On Friday, thousands of Alexei Navalny's supporters lined up for hours to pay their respects. As they streamed from a nearby church to the cemetery, some chanted “No to war!” and others chanted pro-Navalny slogans, including calling Putin a “murderer” and calling for the “release of political prisoners.” The human rights organization OVD-Info said Russian police arrested at least 128 people in 19 cities on Friday who took part in Navalny tributes.
The scenes of thousands of people marching in support of Alexei Navalny, demanding an end to Russia's attack on Ukraine and castigating the Kremlin have been heard in Russia since the first days after Moscow ordered hundreds of thousands of troops to cross the border. not seen again in late February 2022. Since then, the Kremlin has cracked down on dissent, using tough new military censorship laws to prosecute hundreds of people who have publicly spoken out against the offensive.
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