Hundreds of people have gathered at the Moscow burial of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in a moving act of solidarity and remembering.
Photographs taken at Navalny’s burial site in Moscow’s Borisovsky Cemetery by independent human rights group OVD-Info show a long line of mourning. People are paying their respects to the activist who has passed away, and the area is filled with flowers.
According to reports from OVD-Info, mourners are saying goodbye and expressing their sorrow with sincere feelings.
Lyudmila, Navalny’s mother, paid a somber visit to her son’s grave for the second day in a row as part of the ceremonies honoring him. Her appearance with Yulia Navalny’s mother is noted by Reuters, highlighting the significant effect of Navalny’s death on his close ones.
Despite fears of possible arrests, a large number of people attended Navalny’s funeral on Friday. Heavy security was in place for the rally, which featured people chanting Navalny’s name and expressing anti-Putin views.
The circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death have sparked international outrage, with the Kremlin denying any participation in the incident contrasted with accusations of foul play from his aides.
According to OVD-Info, officials launched a crackdown on the day of Navalny’s funeral, detaining at least 103 people in 20 Russian towns. The presence of riot police, who searched and watched over mourners, did not stop the flood of condolences.
When Navalny returned to Russia in 2021 after recuperating from the Novichok poisoning in Germany, he was arrested right after on what he believed to be politically motivated allegations.
As the country struggles to deal with the fallout from Navalny’s death, his legacy lives on as a symbol of resistance to injustice and a force for transformation.