Alexei Navalny’s body seen in coffin, Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ played as thousands of supporters defy Putin to honor opposition leader
The body of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was buried in Moscow on Friday to the defiant refrain of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” — as thousands challenged President Vladimir Putin by paying final respects to his fiercest critic, many chanting “Putin is a murderer.”
Video from the Barisovskoye cemetery showed the 47-year-old dissident’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, clad in a black scarf, making the sign of the cross over her dead son’s body and his father, Anatoly, kissing him on the brow.
Navalny was then draped in a white shroud before the coffin lid was shut.
It was then lowered to the sounds of Sinatra’s iconic 1968 song of independence — followed by a selection from the soundtrack of “Terminator 2,” Navalny’s favorite movie.
Crowds of mourners, many carrying flowers, waited outside the cemetery to bid farewell to Navalny while chanting his name.
The burial followed a rushed funeral service at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows attended by a few hundred of Navalny’s relatives and friends.
Somber photos taken inside the church showed the politician’s body resting in a coffin covered in red and white roses, with candles burning around him and a priest in white robes standing over him.
His parents, with their faces etched in grief, could be seen seated next to their dead son, surrounded by other relatives.
Navalny’s allies claimed the presiding Russian Orthodox priest had been pressured to wrap up as quickly as possible to limit the public’s access, forcing throngs of people to mill outside the church.
Among those who came out to pay their respects were foreign diplomats, including US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy, who stood in black outside the church clutching a bouquet of red roses.
Navalny’s widow Yulia and two children, a daughter Daria and a son Zakhar, who are living outside Russia, did not attend the funeral.
Yulia, who has vowed to continue her husband’s struggle, posted on social media a heartbreaking tribute to Alexei, whom she lovingly called “Lyosha.”
“Lyosha, thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness. Yes, even for the last three years of happiness. For the love, for always supporting me, for making me laugh even from prison, for always thinking about me,” Yulia wrote.
“I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try so that you, from up there, would be happy for me and proud of me. I don’t know whether or not I can handle it, but I will try.
“We will definitely meet again one day. I have so many untold stories to tell you, I have so many songs saved for you on my phone, silly and funny, in general, to be honest, terrible songs, but they are about us, and I so wanted to let you listen to them. And I so wanted to watch you listen to them, laugh and then hug me. Love you forever. Rest in Peace.”
As Navalny set out on his final journey to the burial ground, thousands of people lined the streets along the route chanting, “Putin is a murderer,” We will not forget,” “Russia will be free” and “No to war.”
“I came here to say goodbye to Navalny. What does that mean for me? I don’t even know how to explain it,” said a 25-year-old man who gave his name as Kirill. “It’s very sad for the future of Russia…We won’t give up, we will believe in something better.”
A woman who identified herself only as Kamila said: “There are more than 10,000 people here, and no one is afraid…We came here in order to honor the memory of a man who also wasn’t afraid, who wasn’t afraid of anything.”
Hundreds of thousands more watched the solemn proceedings as they were streamed live on YouTube by his top aides, who fought back tears as they railed against Putin and his security apparatus.
Navalny’s YouTube channel is blocked inside Russia.
Police in riot gear have been sent to the area around the service and snipers have been positioned on the Russian capital’s rooftops as a precaution.
The funeral came two weeks to the day after Navalny died suddenly under unexplained circumstances in the remote “Polar Wolf” penal colony, where he had been imprisoned for three years since returning to Russia following a failed poisoning attempt with the nerve agent Novichok.
Navalny’s family and allies have accused the Kremlin of murdering him, potentially to thwart a planned prisoner exchange that would have seen the convicted dissident freed.
Putin’s regime has angrily denied any involvement in Navalny’s death – and has not commented on the alleged agreement to swap Navalny and two jailed US citizens for a former FSB agent imprisoned in Germany for murder.
Navalny’s cause of death still has not been revealed.
The death certificate that was handed to his mother only said that he died from “natural causes.”
State media on Friday gave Navalny’s funeral only a passing mention, with the RIA news agency noting in its coverage that he had been imprisoned on a slew of charges, including extremism and fraud.
Navalny had denied all those charges, saying they had been trumped up by the authorities to silence him.
In the lead-up to the memorial, Navalny’s allies accused the authorities of trying to “blackmail” his mother into holding a private funeral by refusing to release her son’s body for eight days under the guise of having to conduct post-mortem tests.
Navalnaya, 69, made a video appeal to Putin to hand over the body so she could bury her son with dignity.
Even on Friday itself, the morgue where the body was being kept delayed its release, according to Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Once it was released, at least one funeral director said he had been “forbidden” to work with Navalny’s supporters, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on X.
Several churches in Moscow were said to have refused to host Navalny’s funeral, before the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows in the Maryino district, where Navalny once lived, agreed to handle the service.
The Kremlin warned that any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would be against the law.
“Just a reminder that we have a law that must be followed. Any unauthorized gatherings will be in violation of the law, and those who participate in them will be held accountable — again, in line with the current law,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Navalny, a former lawyer, had been a thorn in Putin’s side for more than a decade, organizing mass protests and publishing bombshell investigations into the alleged corruption of the president and members of his inner circle.
Putin has not commented on Navalny’s death and has for years avoided even mentioning his nemesis by name, instead calling him “that character” or “this gentleman.”
With Post wires
