12:57 p.m. ET, March 1, 2024
Alexey Navalny's funeral and burial has drawn thousands of mourners in Moscow. Catch up here
From CNN staff
Alexey Navalny's open casket lies in front his parents Lyudmila Navalnaya, center, and Anatoly Navalny, center left, during his funeral service at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God 'Quench My Sorrows' in Moscow on Friday.
Reuters
Thousands of mourners gathered in Moscow for the
funeral of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny Friday despite a
heavy police presence and the threat of detention.
The
first image released from the funeral service displayed an open casket — showing just his face with his body covered in flowers. His coffin was lowered into a grave to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s "My Way."
If you're just joining us, here's what else you need to know:
Where it happened: The funeral service was held at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Quench My Sorrows" in Moscow. His burial site is the Borisovsky cemetery in Moscow’s Maryino district, where Navalny lived.
Who was in attendance: Navalny's
parents attended the funeral ceremony and the burial. Video from the cemetery showed his father Anatoly leaning forward to
kiss the forehead of his son as Navalny’s body lay in an open casket. Also present were foreign diplomats, including the
US Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy. Navalny's widow,
Yulia Navalnaya, has been living abroad and was not present. She said ahead of the funeral that she was
concerned police would crack down on
mourners.
In a message released on Friday, she posted a video with the caption: "Thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness."
“I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to make you up there happy for me and proud of me. I don't know if I can handle this or not, but I will try,” she added.
What the Kremlin said: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Friday he has
“nothing” to say to Navalny's family; however, he did warn Russians against unauthorized memorials. “Any
unauthorized gathering will be in violation of the law. Accordingly, those who will participate in it will bear responsibility under the laws in place,” Peskov told journalists on a regularly scheduled call on Friday.
Defiant mourners showed up in large numbers: As Navalny's body arrived at the church, video shared by Navalny’s team showed
mourners clapping. Other videos have shown
people chanting “Navalny,” "no to war" and "Russia without Putin." After the funeral ceremony was over, a number of
mourners pushed over crowd control barriers in an apparent effort to follow his funeral procession, a video from the church site showed. Finally, as Navalny was laid to rest, several videos showed a large number of
people streaming toward the burial site, and a line several hundred meters long formed at the Brateyevsky Bridge. Multiple mourners told CNN they were
not afraid of any possible repercussions from the government for their attendance.
Russians pay respects: CNN saw at least some of the many hundreds of mourners who converged at the Borisovsky cemetery allowed into the burial site 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 detained across Russia: At least 45 people have been detained for paying tribute to Navalny on Friday, according to monitoring group OVD-Info.
Broadcast of ceremony likely jammed: The live signal of the CNN team covering the funeral of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny in Moscow
appeared to be blocked. Approximately 20 minutes before the funeral is scheduled to begin, no live pictures from the church were available. The feed organized by Navalny’s team was also not showing live coverage of the scene. Then just around the time that the service was over,
CNN's signal was back up. Russian state news agencies and broadcasters gave
very limited space to the funeral and burial.