Where will Alexei Navalny be buried? Funeral details explored

Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most high-profile critic and Russian opposition leader, will be laid to rest at a cemetery in Moscow on March 1, 2024. Navalny passed away on February 16 after he reportedly collapsed and died after a walk in the penal colony situated in the Arctic Circle where he was imprisoned.

News of the funeral details emerged after Alexei Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on February 28, where she revealed that she was unsure whether the funeral would be peaceful "or whether the police would arrest those who have come to say goodbye to Alexei."

According to The Guardian, Alexei Navalny was sent to prison in 2021 after he was found guilty on six counts that included inciting and financing extremism, creating an illegal NGO, the rehabilitation of Nazism, and inciting children to dangerous acts.

---

Alexei Navalny's funeral to be held in Moscow on March 1

According to the BBC, a funeral service for Alexei Navalny will be held at Borisovskoye Cemetery after a farewell ceremony at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in the Maryino district of Moscow on March 1. The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. (11:00 GMT) and the burial at 4 p.m. (13:00 GMT).

On Tuesday, February 27, Alexei Navalny's spokesperson, Kira Yarmish, revealed that the team was struggling to find a funeral home to hold the ceremony in, as most homes either claimed to be fully booked or refused to hold the event when they found the recipient.

"One place told us that funeral agencies were forbidden from working with us," she revealed on social media.

They also wanted to initially hold the funeral on February 29 but were unable to find anybody willing to dig a grave as it was the same day that Putin was due to make his yearly address to the Federal Assembly.

According to The Guardian, while Navalny was pronounced dead due to natural causes on February 16, the authorities refused to hand over his body to his mother until February 24. Navalny's team even accused the Kremlin of allegedly blackmailing his mother into agreeing to a private funeral without any fanfare.

Following the news of Navalny's death, more than 400 people have been arrested across Russia for laying flowers for him as tribute, as per the human rights group OVO-Info.

Ivan Zhdanov, Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation's director, urged people to arrive early for the funeral to pay their respects. Reports state that his funeral will likely be heavily armed with police, potentially resulting in a wave of arrests akin to those after his death.

---

Alexei Navalny's wife described her husband as "an innovator" in Strasbourg

Addressing the European Parliament on Wednesday, Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, called her husband "an innovator" who "always had new ideas for everything, but especially for politics." She also said that despite Putin's iron-fisted regime in Russia, Navalny "has managed to become the most famous politician there.

As per AP News, she also urged the European parliament to be "innovative" when it came to dealing with Putin and his allies, calling the Russian president “a bloody monster, the ringleader of an organized crime group."

“Putin must answer for what he did to my country. Putin must answer for what he did to a neighbouring peaceful country. Putin must be held accountable for what he did to Alexei," she continued.

According to the BBC, an ally of Navalny alleged that he was about to be freed in a prisoner swap before his death, but Putin had changed his mind at the last minute. The Kremlin denied these allegations, claiming to be unaware of such a deal.