the crowd chants “No to war!” near the cemetery where Alexei Navalny is buried

Despite the risk of arrest, a large crowd gathered on Friday to pay their last respects to the Russian opponent.

“The coffin is lowered to the ground”announced Friday March 1 on Telegram one of the close collaborators of the opponent Alexeï Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov. “Goodbye my friend.” The hearse carrying the opponent’s coffin arrived late in the morning to the applause of the crowd in a Moscow church. Four men with black and red armbands then carried the coffin inside.

Outside the church, despite the risk of arrest, a large crowd of several thousand people gathered, forming a very long queue. Some people came with flowers, others had tears in their eyes. The police were present in large numbers and cordoned off the area with barriers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned of potential sanctions for participating in any protests “unauthorized” on the occasion of this funeral.

“He was not afraid and we are not afraid!”

Several thousand supporters of Alexeï Navalny gathered to pay tribute to him in the church. According to the Orthodox rite, the body of Vladimir Putin’s main adversary was briefly exposed in the church, in the presence of his parents. The Russian opponent, who died on February 16 at the age of 47 in an Arctic prison, was then buried at the Borissovo cemetery in Moscow, surrounded by some of his relatives, AFP noted.

The crowd gathered near the cemetery chanted “No to war!” in protest of the Russian assault launched more than two years ago against Ukraine. “He was not afraid and we are not afraid!”launched Navalny sympathizers again, despite a significant police presence in the area. “We will not forgive!”they also shouted.

Russian police made at least 45 arrests during rallies in tribute to the opponent, according to the specialist NGO OVD-Info. Six of these people were arrested in Moscow, the other arrests took place in different locations such as Novosibirsk in Siberia, or in the Voronezh region.