12:57 p.m. ET, March 1, 2024
Alexey Navalny's funeral and burial drew thousands of mourners in Moscow. Get information here
From CNN Staff: Alexei Navalny's open coffin lies in front of his parents Lyudmila Navalny (center) and Anatoly Navalny (center left) during his funeral service at the Church of the Icon of Our Lady “Solve My Sorrows” in Moscow on Friday. Portal Thousands of mourners gathered in Moscow on Friday for the funeral of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, despite a heavy police presence and the threat of imprisonment. The first image released by the funeral service showed an open coffin with only his face and body covered in flowers visible. His coffin was lowered into a grave to the strains of Frank Sinatra's “My Way.”
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Where did it happen: The funeral service took place in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows” in Moscow. His gravesite is the Borisovsky Cemetery in Moscow's Mariino district, where Navalny lived.
Who was present: Navalny's parents attended the memorial service and funeral. Video from the cemetery showed his father, Anatoly, leaning forward to kiss his son's forehead as Navalny's body lay in an open coffin. Foreign diplomats were also present, including US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy. Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, lived abroad and was not present. She said before the funeral that she was worried police would take tough action against her mourners. In a message posted on Friday, she posted a video with the caption: “Thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness.”
“I don't know how I'll live without you, but I'll try to make you happy for me up there and proud of me. I don’t know if I can handle it or not, but I’ll try,” she added.
What the Kremlin said: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Friday he had “nothing” to say about Navalny’s family; However, he warned the Russians against unauthorized memorials. “Any unauthorized assembly is against the law. Accordingly, those who take part bear responsibility under the applicable laws,” Peskov said in a regular phone call with journalists on Friday.
Defiant mourners turned out in large numbers: As Navalny's body arrived at the church, a video shared by Navalny's team showed mourners clapping. Other videos showed people chanting “Navalny,” “No to war,” and “Russia without Putin.” After the funeral ceremony ended, several mourners pushed over barriers to control the crowd, apparently trying to follow his funeral procession, video from the church grounds showed. When Navalny was finally buried, several videos showed a large crowd flocking to the gravesite, and a line several hundred meters long formed at Brateyevsky Bridge. Several mourners told CNN they were not afraid of possible repercussions from the government for their presence.
Russians pay respect: CNN saw that at least some of the many hundreds of mourners who had gathered at Borisovsky Cemetery were allowed to enter the gravesite to pay their respects to Navalny. It was a large but organized affair: a small orchestra near his grave played music as people passed by one by one.
Dozens arrested across Russia: At least 45 people were arrested on Friday for paying tribute to Navalny, according to monitoring group OVD-Info.
Transmission of the ceremony probably disrupted: The live signal of the CNN team covering the funeral of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in Moscow appeared to be blocked. Live images from the church were not available about 20 minutes before the funeral began. The feed organized by Navalny's team also did not show any live coverage of the crime scene. Then, just as the service ended, the CNN signal came back. Russian state news agencies and broadcasters gave the funeral very limited space.