Navalny parents sob as they kiss son’s forehead in final farewell - follow latest
Updated 3 minutes ago
Alexei Navalny’s parents kissed their son farewell before his open casket was sealed and lowered into the ground at a Moscow cemetery.
Lyudmila Navalnya sobbed as she used a funeral shroud to cover the face of the Russian opposition leader, who died in prison last month aged 47.
A priest read a prayer for Navalny’s soul before his body was lowered into the grave as Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” – apparently one of his favourite songs – played.
Hundreds of mourners, including senior diplomats, thronged the streets for Navalny’s funeral service, which was reportedly cut short under pressure from the authorities.
The Kremlin has warned that those who take part in “unauthorised rallies” will be “held accountable by the law”.
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‘I don’t know how to live without you,’ Navalny’s widow says
Yulia Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s widow, admitted she does not know how to “live without” her husband in a message posted on social media after his funeral.
She wrote: “Thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness. Yes, even over the last three years of happiness.
“Thank you for your love, for always supporting me, for making me laugh even when you were in prison, for always thinking about me.
“I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to make sure that you will be happy for me and proud of me out there. I don’t know if I can do it or not but I will try.
“We will definitely meet some day. I have so many stories to tell you.”
Mourners enter cemetery after Navalny burial
Mourners have been allowed into the cemetery in Moscow moments after Alexei Navalny was buried.
A string of people were seen moving through the cemetery gate, approaching the grave, throwing a handful of soil on the grave and leaving.
Many more thousands are still marching from the church a few kilometres away, chanting “Navalny” and “No to war”.
Navalny parents kiss son goodbye as coffin sealed
Alexei Navalny’s parents approached the coffin and kissed their son on their forehead before the coffin was shut closed ready for burial.
Mr Navalny’s mother covered his face with a funeral shroud before the priest read a short prayer for the soul of the deceased.
Undertakers then closed the lid and lowered the coffin into the grave.
Parents ‘bid farewell’ to Navalny as coffin taken into cemetery
Undertakers have brought in the coffin with Alexei Navalny into the cemetery to a freshly dug out grave nearby.
They were seen opening the lid of the coffin for the parents to bid their farewell before the coffin is closed and taken down into the grave.
‘Thank you for your son’, Navalny parents told
Parents of Alexei Navalny were surrounded by mourners outside their church, offering their condolences.
After the hearse departed and mourners were not allowed into the church, they came out to the church gate to greet Anatoly and Lyudmila Navalny.
Mourners were seen hugging the politician’s parents and telling them, “Thank you for your son!” and “Forgive us”.
‘Idiotic’ police block hearse outside cemetery
Alexei Navalny’s family is waiting to take his coffin into the cemetery after the hearse was apparently blocked in by police.
Ivan Zhdanov, an ally of the Russian opposition leader, said: “Due to the idiotic actions of the police, the car with the ritualists unloading the coffin was blocked.
“Now they are just waiting at the cemetery for ritualists to carry the coffin”.
Church ‘was ordered to cut service short’
A well-connected Russian religious affairs reporter says the church had been under pressure to hold a very brief funeral service for Alexei Navalny and prevent a public farewell.
Sergei Chapnin, a journalist who covers the Russian Orthodox Church, said on Facebook the church in Maryino has been ordered to “cut the service as much as they could”.
He reported the day before that the church would not allow anyone for the funeral service except for the family.
The casket with Mr Navalny’s body was taken out of the church barely twenty minutes after it arrived.
‘You were not afraid, we are not’
Mourners gathering in Moscow for the funeral of Alexei Navalny chanted “you were not afraid, we are not” as his coffin was carried into the church.
Crowds also shouted Navalny’s name in tribute to the Russian opposition leader, who died last month aged 47 in an Arctic penal colony.
Mourners chant ‘No to war’ as they head to cemetery
Thousands of mourners who had queued for hours to get into the church to bid farewell to Alexei Navalny are now marching towards the cemetery chanting “Navalny”, “No to war” and “Love is stronger than fear”.
The hearse carrying the body of the slain politician left the church after a brief ceremony. Mourners were throwing flowers at the hearse as it was pulling out.
It was not immediately clear why Navalny supporters were not allowed inside.
Navalny taken to cemetery after ‘quick’ funeral
Alexei Navalny’s body is now being taken to a cemetery following a short funeral service, according to his anti-corruption foundation.
Ivan Zhdanov, an ally of the Russian opposition politician, said: “The funeral service went by very quickly. Alexei will now be taken to the cemetery.”
Navalny is to be buried at Moscow’s Borisovskoye cemetery, which is roughly a mile and a half from the church across the River Moskva.
Funeral service starts as church bells ring out
Church bells are ringing, signifying the start of the church service for Alexei Navalny.
An Orthodox Christian service for the deceased is led by a priest who offers prayers for the soul of the dead.
At the end of the service, a priest says the prayer of absolution over the body of the deceased, and mourners are invited to come forward to give their last kiss to the diseases.
Eulogies are not part of a traditional Orthodox Christian funeral service.
Authorities ‘jamming communications’ as funeral starts
Authorities appear to be jamming communications outside the church.
Connection was already poor an hour before the church service but communications appeared to be fully jammed just as Alexei Navalny’s body arrived at the church, journalists working at the scene said.
Live feed run by several media outlets was done shortly after the body’s arrival.
US and French ambassador among crowds of mourners
Foreign diplomats including Pierre Levy, the French ambassador to Russia, and Lynne Tracy, the UN ambassador, are among the mourners in Moscow today.
Crowds chant ‘Navalny’ as hearse arrives at church
A hearse carrying Alexei Navalny’s body has pulled up by the church in Maryino.
Mourners outside greeted the black minivan with appause and chanted “Navalny”.
Several men were seen carrying the coffin into the church where the politician’s body will be prepared for burial.
Snipers on Moscow rooftops as mourners gather
Snipers have been positioned on Moscow rooftops ahead of Alexei Navalny’s burial in the Russian capital.
Crowds of mourners had gathered hours in advance of Friday’s ceremony, braving the risk of arrest to pay their respects to the opposition leader amid tight security and fears of a police crackdown.
Riot police were deployed near the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, in Moscow’s Maryino district, where a ceremony for Mr Navalny was set to take place.
He will be buried at the Borisovskoye cemetery, around 2.5km (1.5 miles) away on the other side of the Moskva River.
Cameron: We must hold Russia accountable for Navalny death
Russia must be held accountable for the death of Alexei Navalny, Lord Cameron said, as he paid tribute to the opposition leader’s “courage”, “spirit” and “defiance”.
The Foreign Secretary wrote on social media: “Putin tried to silence Alexei Navalny. But the world was watching.
“On the day of his funeral, we remember his spirit of defiance in the face of brutality from the Russian regime, and his courage in standing up to corruption.
“We must continue to hold Russia to account.”
‘Alexei gave his life fighting for us’
Many of the mourners were wary of talking to reporters or identifying themselves in light of Russia’s draconian law against dissent.
Those who did talk spoke about how much Mr Navalny’s work meant for them.
“It’s a huge loss,” Svetlana Petrova told AP.
“I’m offering my deep condolences to his mother, his wife and children because not everyone can bear what they had to bear.”
Navalny supporters also travelled from elsewhere to say their goodbyes.
“For everyone who is here, those who can’t be here and those who were too afraid to come, Alexei was the person who not only gave his life fighting for something - he gave his life fighting for us,” Nadezhda Ivanova, who travelled from Russia’s westernmost city of Kaliningrad, said.
“This man is a hero for our country. We will not forget him and we will not forget what [the government] did to him.”
Kremlin: We have nothing to say to Navalny family
The Kremlin has nothing to say to Alexei Navalny’s relatives on the day of his funeral, according to a spokesman. Members of the public who take part in “unauthorised rallies” will be “held accountable by the law”, he added.
A representative for Navalny responded: “But we have something to say to the Kremlin – the killers of Alexei.”
Navalny supporters ‘in tears’ as thousands wait outside church
Thousands of mourners are lining outside a church on the outskirts of Moscow an hour before the body of Russia’s slain opposition leader Alexei Navalny was to be prepared for burial according to Orthodox Christian tradition.
A long line of mourners snaked outside the church in Maryino, taking up most of the pavement all the way to the metro station several hundred metres away.
Some Navalny supporters, dressed warmly for a frigid and wet afternoon, arrived in the area several hours before the church service. Many carried flowers. Some could not hold back tears.
Authorities earlier dispatched a sizable police force to the area and warned Russians against “unauthorised gatherings” in a bid to spook Navalny supporters.
About one hour before the church service, the mood outside was largely calm, and police stood by.
Navalny’s body handed over to relatives
Ivan Zhdanov, a close ally of Alexei Navalny, says the body of the slain politician has now been released to the family and the hearse should be expected to reach the church in an hour.
Mr Zhdanov previously reported an unexpected delay at the morgue in a Moscow suburb, which threatened to delay the ceremony.
Pictures: Mourners line the streets ahead of funeral
Navalny’s body ‘has not been released by authorities’
Russian authorities are yet to release the body of Alexei Navalny from a morgue, a representative for the deceased opposition leader said.
Kira Yarmysh wrote on social media: “Relatives arrived at the morgue at 10am [local time, 7am GMT], when Alexei’s body was supposed to be given to them.
“The body has not yet been released. The schedule has not changed yet, but there may be delays.”
