The funeral for Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny

Our live coverage of Navalny’s funeral has ended. Read more about the Russian opposition figure’s memorial here or read through the posts below.

In 2022, the CNN Films documentary “Navalny” chronicled the aftermath of Alexey Navalny’s poisoning.

In the film, director Daniel Roher asked Navalny what message he would want to leave for the Russian people if he were to be killed.

“My message for the situation when I am killed is very simple: not give up,” Navalny said in English.

Then, Roher asked him to answer it in Russian.

“I’ve got something very obvious to tell you. You’re not allowed to give up,” Navalny said. “If they decide to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong. We need to utilize this power, to not give up, to remember we are a huge power that is being oppressed by these bad dudes.

Roher later told CNN’s David Rind on the “Tug of War” podcast why he asked Navalny to switch languages.

“I thought that the power of that was quite significant and symbolic because he is now in prison in a gulag outside of Moscow,” Roher said. “Let the last word of this would-be president be to his people.”

Watch it here:

Alexey Navalny, who died aged 47, had long been a thorn in the side of President Vladimir Putin, exposing corruption in high places, campaigning against the ruling United Russia party, and orchestrating some of the biggest anti-government protests seen in recent years.

His imprisonment in 2021 sparked scores of demonstrations across Russia, leading to thousands of detentions. From prison, Navalny denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine via social media and encouraged anti-war protests across the country.

The Kremlin critic was quietly relocated to a penal colony in Siberia in December, a move that sparked a two-week search by his team who lost contact with him during the unannounced transfer.

The death of Putin’s most high-profile critic punctuates a merciless crackdown on dissidence in Russia that has accelerated during its war with Ukraine.

Putin has long refused to utter Navalny’s name. He described the extensive media investigations into the 2020 Novichok poisoning as fabrications by Western intelligence and said in December 2020 that if Russian security services had wanted to kill the activist, they “would have finished” the job.

Keep reading about Navalny’s life.

At least 115 people have been detained across Russia for paying tribute to late opposition leader Alexey Navalny on Friday, according to monitoring group OVD-Info.

The largest number of people, 16, were detained in the city of Novosibirsk.

At least 10 people have been detained in the capital Moscow, where Navalny was buried, according to OVD-Info. Another 10 were detained in Yekaterinburg, the group said, with 14 held in the Voronezh region.

People were also detained in Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Vladikavkaz, Sochi, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Ulan-Ude, among other cities, according to OVD-Info.

This post has been updated with the latest figures from OVD-Info.

Alexey Navalny’s daughter Dasha Navalnaya vowed to make her father proud in an Instagram post on Friday, the day of his funeral.

“You taught me to live by my principles from childhood. To live a worthy life. You gave your life for me, for my mother, for Zakhar (Navalny’s son), for Russia, and I promise you that I will live my life the way you taught me, to make you proud, and most importantly, with the same bright smile on my face,” she said in a farewell note to her father.

Navalnaya also said that her father will forever remain “an example” to live by, calling him her “role model” and her “hero.”

Navalny was laid to rest at a Moscow cemetery Friday, exactly two weeks after his death was announced by Russia’s prison service. While his parents were present at the funeral, his widow and children were not.

Many hundreds of mourners have been allowed into the cemetery to pay their respects to the opposition leader.

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.

A number of European leaders commemorated Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny with social media tributes on Friday. 

Alexey Navalny had long been a thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, exposing corruption in high places, campaigning against the ruling United Russia party and orchestrating some of the biggest anti-government protests seen in recent years.

His imprisonment in 2021 sparked scores of demonstrations across Russia, leading to thousands of detentions. From prison, Navalny denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine via social media and encouraged anti-war protests across the country.

The Kremlin critic was quietly relocated to a penal colony in Siberia in December 2023 — a move that sparked a two-week search by his team who lost contact with him during the unannounced transfer.

Navalny was detained and sent to a Russian prison in 2021 after he had returned to Russia from Germany, where he was recovering from Novichok poisoning he blamed on the Russian government. The Kremlin repeatedly denied any involvement.

Putin has long refused to utter Navalny’s name. He described the extensive media investigations into the 2020 Novichok poisoning as fabrications by Western intelligence and said in December 2020 that if Russian security services had wanted to kill the activist, they “would have finished” the job.

Keep reading about Navalny’s life and work.

A small orchestra near Alexey Navalny’s grave played music as people passed by, one by one, to pay their respects to the late opposition leader.

CNN’s team had to walk through metal detectors placed at the immediate entrance to the cemetery. Authorities were letting people inside the cemetery in small groups. Everyone was asked to keep moving to avoid blocking the route.

As CNN’s team was leaving the site, the line of people who were waiting to enter the cemetery was still massive. 

At least some of the many hundreds of mourners who have converged at the Borisovsky cemetery have been allowed into the burial site to pay their respects to opposition leader Alexey Navalny, a CNN team in Moscow reported.

A well-organized operation is in place, with separate lines for entry and exit to the burial site, the team reported. Police are addressing people politely via loudspeaker and instructing them where to walk.

Video released on one X (formerly Twitter) account of Navalny’s supporters shows people filing past his grave and casting handfuls of earth into it. Some mourners chanted “Thank you for your son” to Lyudmila Navalnaya, Navalny’s mother, who is seen sitting near the grave at the cemetery as people walk through.

The last image we saw of Alexey Navalny alive was him smiling and joking. The final image before he was laid to rest is more sobering. Conforming with Orthodox tradition, the body of the Russian opposition figure is pictured in an open casket. A man who was once politically and physically energetic and fiery, is now still and at peace.

It is a haunting image, with candles illuminating the scene. Navalny’s face appears almost ghostly white amid the piles of carnations that cover his chest. His mother and father are seated beside the coffin, clasping each other’s hands, saying goodbye to their son.

It is the culmination of a quest that his mother embarked on 14 days ago when she traveled across Russia’s vast wilderness, above the Arctic Circle and to the Siberian penal colony where Navalny met his end, to badger Russian authorities into allowing her to retrieve the body.

In the casket, Navalny is dressed in a shirt, tie and waistcoat – a change from his prison swatches, and a reminder that he was once a prominent politician.

Gaunt and sunken even before his death, Navalny’s lifeless face represents the energy that was sucked out by the Kremlin and its remote penal colony.

It is a picture that defines the moment – the extinguishing of political opposition in Russia.

Thousands of mourners gathered to pay their respects as the former opposition figure Alexey Navalny was laid to rest in Moscow today, exactly two weeks after his death was announced by Russia’s prison service.

They were present in and outside the church where the funeral service took place and also walked with the procession to the burial site.

At times, the crowds were heard chanting “we won’t forget,” “no to war” and “Russia without Putin.”

Here are some photos from the day:

Russian state news agencies and broadcasters gave very limited space to the funeral and burial of opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

Despite headlines across the globe, Navalny’s funeral was not featured on state broadcaster Russia 24, while the event was ongoing.

Russia state news agency TASS reported solely on Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s warning that “unauthorized gathering will be in violation of the law” – which it listed as the second most read article on its website.

State news agency RIA also reported Peskov’s comments and then marked the moment the opposition leader was laid to rest and the ambassadors attending the event. 

In her first comment on the day of her late husband’s funeral, Yulia Navalnaya has posted a video with the caption:

“Lyosha [a nickname for Alexey Navalny], thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness. Yes, even for the happiness over the last three years. For love, for always supporting me, for making me laugh even from prison, for the fact that you always thought about me,” she said.

“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. 

Navalny’s family: While the opposition figure’s parents were present at the funeral, Navalnaya was not. She had said ahead of the funeral that she was concerned police would crack down on mourners.

“We will definitely meet one day. I have so many untold stories for you, and I have so many songs saved for you on my phone, stupid and funny, in general, to be honest, terrible songs, but they are about us, and I really wanted you to listen to them. And I really wanted to watch you listen to them, laugh, and then hug me,” she added in the video post.

The message, over video of their years together and ending on a photograph of Navalny surrounded by candles, ended with the words: “Love you forever. Rest in peace.”

At least one person has been arrested at the funeral for Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, monitoring group OVD-Info reported Friday.

An additional 22 people were detained when they tried to leave their homes to attend the funeral, according to OVD-Info.

CNN could not independently verify that information and Russian authorities did not disclose additional information.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was laid to rest at a Moscow cemetery Friday, exactly two weeks after his death was announced by Russia’s prison service.

Relatives were gathered around the coffin at the Borisovsky cemetery.

“Lyoha, bye! Sleep well, dear,” someone shouted from the crowd that had converged on the cemetery. Lyoha is a nickname of Navalny’s.

Others in the crowd were chanting: “Let us in to say goodbye!” 

Several videos showed a large number of people streaming towards the burial site. It’s unclear if they will be allowed into the cemetery.

A queue several hundred meters long formed at the Brateyevsky Bridge.

Alexey Navalny’s coffin has been lowered into the ground to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way,’ his team reported during a live transmission of the burial ceremony.

Navalny’s team also said it is struggling with transmission due to communication jamming at the location. CNN has been experiencing similar issues. 

Video from the Borisovsky cemetery where Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny is being laid to rest showed his father Anatoly leaning forward to kiss the forehead of his son as Navalny’s body lay in an open casket.

The video feed also showed his mother Lyudmila Navalnaya standing by the casket.

Navalny’s face was then covered in preparation for burial.

As solemn music played at the burial site, the chants of the crowd outside the cemetery could be heard.

A Russian woman named Polina, one of thousands of mourners outside the church where Alexey Navalny’s funeral took place, told CNN that the opposition figure’s death was “horribly sad,” but that it had united many Russians.

“There are obviously some people who are, I guess, against the whole thing that is happening right now. I can’t say it, obviously. But there are some people who have good hearts.”

Remember: Dissent has been effectively outlawed in Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. Russian authorities outlawed Navalny’s movement as extremist and expressing support for him can be perilous.

Video from Moscow shows the coffin of Alexey Navalny arriving at the burial plot at Borisovsky cemetery. Applause broke out among mourners who had arrived at the cemetery, as well as chants of “Navalny.”

Social media video also shows a large crowd following the route from the church where the funeral service for Navalny was held to the burial site — some 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) away.

A CNN team on the ground said a substantial crowd was making its way to the cemetery. 

A senior aide to Alexey Navalny has thanked people who came to the Moscow church where his funeral is about to begin.

“I am very grateful to those who came to the church today, and those who will come to the cemetery,” Kira Yarmysh told the YouTube channel organized by Navalny’s supporters for the occasion. “All those who support Alexey and write about it, it is very important now and will be even more important later. So please don’t stop.”

Harder times and greater struggles lie ahead, she added. “So by no means can we give up. We should keep speaking about it and we should remember it.”

Maria Pevchikh, close aide to Navalny, said the opposition leader will become a giant and a hero for Russia, and added that she hopes his death “will become the starting point for the collapse of the Putin regime.” She also told the live broadcast that she will “make every effort” and “use all the resources, all the time” she has to uncover how the Russian opposition leader died. His supporters have consistently alleged that he was killed at a penal colony in Siberia two weeks ago.

Mourners gathered outside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow on Friday told CNN they had gathered to pay their respects to their true “hero,” Alexey Navalny.

Here’s what mourners said:

Marina said she traveled from St. Petersburg because she “loved” Navalny.

“He was a true hero … I want to say to him ‘farewell,’” she said, adding that she was not surprised that the Kremlin had denied any involvement in Navalny’s death. “They demonstrate to the whole world we do what we want to do,” she said. “We can repress you.”

Tatiana said she had attended several of Navalny’s meetings as a longstanding supporter. The 82-year-old Moscow resident said it was “natural” for her to come out to pay her respects to Navalny.

“I always supported their [Navalny’s] policy, their ideas. I share these ideas,” Tatiana added.

Neither woman said she was deterred by the potential risk of coming to the funeral.

Sergey, a 69-year-old man who traveled from outside Moscow to attend the funeral, said it was important for him to pay his respects.

“I’m grieving and I’m angry,” Sergey said during a live broadcast by Navalny’s team Friday. “He was a brave man, unfortunately we lost him.”

Watch their responses:

No arrests have been reported at the funeral of Alexey Navalny as the procession moved from the church to the Borisovsky cemetery, according to Navalny’s team and human rights monitoring group OVD-Info.

However, at least 13 people were prevented from leaving their homes to attend the funeral, OVD Info reported, but did not disclose their identity.

CNN could not independently verify that information and Russian authorities did not disclose additional information.

A large security presence has been felt throughout the morning, with police visible on rooftops and metal detectors installed at the entrance to the cemetery. 

Alexey Navalny’s body has arrived at the Borisovsky cemetery in Moscow, his team has said.

Video broadcast on Navalny’s YouTube feed also shows the van carrying his body at the cemetery.

The cemetery is around 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the church where the funeral occurred.

Amid chants of “Navalny,” a number of mourners pushed over crowd control barriers in an apparent effort to follow opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s funeral procession, a video from the church site shows.

The funeral service is over and the procession has left the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows.’ It is now on its way to the Borisovsky cemetery.

Alexey Navalny’s team said his burial ceremony is expected to begin in around an hour at the Borisovsky cemetery in Moscow.

The cemetery is roughly 2.5 kilometers away (1.5 miles away) from the church where the funeral took place. That’s about a 30-minute walk.

People can already be seen arriving at the cemetery and undergoing security checks.

The funeral of Alexey Navalny has taken place and the first image of his body lying in a casket — just his face with his body covered in flowers — has been posted by Navalny’s team on social media. 

The ceremony for the funeral is over. His body is now being carried out of the church.

CNN now has a signal from outside the church in Moscow where Alexey Navalny’s funeral took place.

It was apparently blocked a short time ago as the funeral got underway.

The parents of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny have been spotted entering the church where their son’s funeral is now underway.

Video shared by Alexey Navalny’s team shows mourners, who have gathered at a Moscow church, clapping as his body arrived at the church.

Another video shows people chanting “Navalny.”

Watch:

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00:09 - Source: cnn

Mourners and foreign diplomats have gathered outside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows,’ where outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny’s funeral is taking place.

Take a look at where it is located in Moscow:

Foreign diplomats, including the French and US ambassadors to Russia, have arrived to pay their respects to Alexey Navalny at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows.’

They were pictured carrying roses.

The live signal of the CNN team covering the funeral of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny in Moscow appears to be blocked.

Approximately 20 minutes before the funeral is scheduled to begin, no live pictures from the church are available.

The feed organized by Navalny’s team was also not showing live coverage of the scene.

Alexey Navalny’s cortege has arrived at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows’ in the Maryino district of the Russian capital, a CNN team on the ground has reported.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has warned Russians against unauthorized memorials for former opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

“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. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told CNN on Friday he has “nothing” to say to the family of the opposition politician Alexey Navalny on the day of his funeral.  

Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained silence on the death of his main critic over the two weeks that have passed since the tragic news, a trend consistent with his avoidance of mentioning Navalny by name during the politician’s lifetime. 

Alexey Navalny’s body has been handed over to his relatives, according to his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh. 

A hearse will soon be heading over to the church, Yarmysh said in a social media post.

It had initially been reported that his team had been unable to secure a hearse for transporting Navalny’s body. 

There is a growing crowd of mourners gathering at the Moscow church where the funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is due to take place Friday – in about one hour, a CNN team on the ground reports.

Here’s what else the team is seeing:

People, many holding flowers, are standing behind crowd control barriers and the queue continues to grow. A number of police are stationed at the entrance to the church, where a metal detector has been installed. 

Crowd control barriers have been erected along the route to the cemetery. There are dozens of police vans around the Borisovsky cemetery, where Navalny will be buried after the funeral service at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench My Sorrows’ in the Maryino district.

Video also shows police asking people through loud-hailers not to block traffic in the area.

Some toilet facilities have also been set up outside the barriers. 

Meanwhile, social media video and photographs show police close to the church and around the nearby Maryino metro station.

The funeral is due to begin at 6 a.m. ET. The cemetery is some 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) from the church.

Police officers have been deployed on rooftops near the Church of Mother of God in Moscow, where the funeral for former Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny will take place, video from the scene showed.

Kira Yarmysh, Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s spokesperson, confirmed Wednesday that his funeral will be held Friday at a church in Moscow.

Yarmysh said the service will take place at 2 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET) in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God and encouraged mourners to arrive early.

The burial of Navalny will take place at Borisov Cemetery in Moscow’s Maryino district, where Navalny lived.

Nalavny’s aides said they began to look for a church soon after his death but that many venues were not willing to host his funeral.

No hearse has agreed to take Alexey Navalny’s body to the church for a planned funeral for the Russian opposition leader, according to his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh.

“All brigades are called by unknown people and threatened not to take Alexey’s body anywhere,” Yarmysh said Thursday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

At first, Navalny’s team were not allowed to rent funeral halls, she said.

“Now that it’s supposed to be just a funeral in the church, the ritual agents tell us that no hearse agrees to take the body there,” Yarmysh said.

When searching for a venue for a funeral, most agencies and sites contacted have either claimed the space is occupied or refused them as soon as Navalny’s name was mentioned — in one instance citing a direct prohibition on working with Navalny’s team, Yarmysh said on Tuesday.

The wife of the late Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny said she is concerned that police will crack down on mourners after it was announced his funeral will take place on Friday in Moscow.

Yulia Navalnaya on Wednesday addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, shortly after Navalny’s aides announced they had arranged his funeral after spending more than a week trying to retrieve his body and find a suitable venue.

“I’m not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or whether police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband,” she said.

Navalny’s death was met with grief and anger across the world as well as inside Russia, where the smallest acts of political dissent carry huge risks. More than 400 people were detained at makeshift memorials for Navalny across 32 Russian cities, according to human rights monitoring group OVD-Info.

Read more about Navalnaya’s speech.