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NEW DELHI: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s mother visited his gravesite on Saturday, following a day where thousands of Russians braved potential arrest to honor the anti-corruption activist at his funeral.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal opponent for over a decade, passed away in an Arctic penal colony last month while serving a 19-year term on “extremism” charges widely viewed as retaliation for his opposition to the Kremlin.
Lyudmila Navalnaya, his mother, paid a visit to his gravesite covered in flowers and wreaths at the Borisovo cemetery in southern Moscow on Saturday morning, according to media reports.
She was joined by Alla Abrosimova, the mother of Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya.
Notably, Yulia Navalnaya, along with their two children and Navalny’s brother, reside abroad and chose not to attend the funeral, mindful of the potential risk of arrest due to their own opposition to Putin.
Yulia Navalnaya has pledged to continue her husband’s work and said Putin “murdered” Navalny.
Some media persons on Saturday observed a small stream of mourners laying flowers at his gravesite, while noting a persistent police presence at the cemetery, situated near the banks of the Moskva river.
Thousands of supporters of Navalny on Friday patiently lined up for hours to pay homage to the 47-year-old activist.
As they streamed from a nearby church to the cemetery, some chanted “No to war!”, and other pro-Navalny slogans, including branding Putin a “murderer” and calling for the release of political prisoners.
According to the rights monitoring group OVD-Info, Russian police detained at least 128 individuals participating in tributes to Navalny across 19 cities on Friday.
Scenes of thousands rallying in support of Navalny, urging an end to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and criticizing the Kremlin, have not been witnessed in Russia since the initial days following Moscow’s deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops across the border in February 2022.
The Kremlin has responded with stringent measures, cracking down heavily on dissent and leveraging strict military censorship laws to prosecute hundreds who have voiced opposition to the campaign.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal opponent for over a decade, passed away in an Arctic penal colony last month while serving a 19-year term on “extremism” charges widely viewed as retaliation for his opposition to the Kremlin.
Lyudmila Navalnaya, his mother, paid a visit to his gravesite covered in flowers and wreaths at the Borisovo cemetery in southern Moscow on Saturday morning, according to media reports.
She was joined by Alla Abrosimova, the mother of Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya.
Notably, Yulia Navalnaya, along with their two children and Navalny’s brother, reside abroad and chose not to attend the funeral, mindful of the potential risk of arrest due to their own opposition to Putin.
Yulia Navalnaya has pledged to continue her husband’s work and said Putin “murdered” Navalny.
Some media persons on Saturday observed a small stream of mourners laying flowers at his gravesite, while noting a persistent police presence at the cemetery, situated near the banks of the Moskva river.
Thousands of supporters of Navalny on Friday patiently lined up for hours to pay homage to the 47-year-old activist.
As they streamed from a nearby church to the cemetery, some chanted “No to war!”, and other pro-Navalny slogans, including branding Putin a “murderer” and calling for the release of political prisoners.
According to the rights monitoring group OVD-Info, Russian police detained at least 128 individuals participating in tributes to Navalny across 19 cities on Friday.
Scenes of thousands rallying in support of Navalny, urging an end to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and criticizing the Kremlin, have not been witnessed in Russia since the initial days following Moscow’s deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops across the border in February 2022.
The Kremlin has responded with stringent measures, cracking down heavily on dissent and leveraging strict military censorship laws to prosecute hundreds who have voiced opposition to the campaign.
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