The team surrounding Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in custody, called on people to attend the memorial service and funeral in Moscow on Friday despite the police presence.
The team of Russian Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in custody, called on people to attend the opposition figure's memorial service and funeral in Moscow on Friday, despite the expected police presence. The funeral at the church is scheduled for 2pm local time (12pm CET), and the funeral at the Borisov Cemetery is scheduled for two hours later, Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysch said on Thursday.
According to people close to him, there is no hearse available for Navalny's funeral. Unknown people threatened funeral parlors not to rent a car, Jarmysch explained on Thursday via the X platform (formerly Twitter). Therefore, there is no car available for Friday's funeral in Moscow. However, Navalny's team said a solution would be found.
All people who care about Navalny's political work should attend, Yarmysch said. The walk from the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Relieve my suffering” to the cemetery is therefore 28 minutes. Austria will be represented by ambassador Werner Almhofer, as announced by Itamaraty to APA on Thursday. Green Party foreign policy spokeswoman Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic, who wanted to travel to Moscow for the funeral, was not granted a visa.
Coming to memorials around the world
Yarmysch also called on Navalny supporters around the world to attend memorials at 7pm local time to remember the late opposition figure. For Austria, the address of the Russian embassy on Reisnerstrasse in Vienna-Landstrasse was provided as a memorial. Amnesty Austria is also holding a vigil in memory of Navalny on Friday at 4pm on Human Rights Square, near the Museumsquartier, in Vienna.
Navalny's team wants to report live online about the memorial service in the southeastern district of Marjino as well as the funeral and has recommended that guests arrive early. A large security presence is expected – and there are fears that uniformed officers could block access to Navalny's supporters. Widow Yulia Navalnaya also announced the call to attend the funeral. Navalny's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, received her son's body on Saturday after days of demanding authorities hand him over to her. She refused a secret burial initially requested by authorities.
Funeral service in Russia hampered by authorities
In recent days, Navalny's team was looking for a place for the funeral ceremony and complained of being blocked by the Russian authorities. According to Russian Orthodox custom, it is customary to bury the dead after just three days and place their bodies beforehand in an open coffin so that mourners can say goodbye. However, a hall was not available for such a farewell ritual, wrote exiled Ivan Zhdanov, director of the anti-corruption fund founded by Navalny, on Platform X.
According to official information, Navalny died on February 16, aged 47, in a prison camp north of the Arctic Circle. The outspoken critic of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin was left physically greatly weakened by a poison attack in 2020 and constant solitary confinement in the camp. His supporters and many international observers therefore agree that there cannot be a “natural” cause of death, as stated on the death certificate. Yulia Navalnaya, the opposition team and civil rights activists accused Putin of assassinating the politician.
Anyone who publicly mourns Navalny in Russia risks arrest. Hundreds of people were recently arrested while laying flowers for Navalny. (APA)