Thousands of supporters defy Putin to honor Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at his burial (photos/videos)

On Friday, March 1, thousands of people disobeyed President Vladimir Putin in order to pay their last respects to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The 47-year-old politician’s body was seen reclining in a coffin adorned in red and white roses in a picture shot inside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows, with lights flickering all around him.

Seated next to their slain son and surrounded by other relatives were his parents, Lyudmila Navalnya and Anatoly Navalny, their faces buried in sadness.

After a brief funeral service, where Navalny’s allies claimed the presiding Russian Orthodox priest was under pressure to wrap up the ceremony as soon as possible, a hearse carrying his body then pulled up to a cemetery in Moscow.

Navalny died in an arctic penal colony this month.. He had been imprisoned since returning from his homeland following a poisoning by a nerve gas. His family still maintains that he was killed by Putin.

Russian authorities still haven’t announced the cause of death for Navalny, 47, who crusaded against official corruption and organized big protests as Putin’s fiercest political foe.

As Navalny set out on his final journey to the Borisovskoye cemetery, thousands of people lined the streets along the route chanting, “We will not forget” and “Russia will be free.”

Hundreds of thousands more watched the proceedings as they were streamed live on YouTube.

Snipers have been stationed on the roofs of the Russian capital as a precaution, while police in riot gear have been dispatched to the vicinity of the service.

His supporters claimed that until Navalny’s team received permission from a church in the Maryino neighborhood of the capital, where he formerly resided prior to his poisoning in 2020, treatment in Germany, and subsequent detention upon his return to Russia, other churches in Moscow declined to host the ceremony.

A long line of people is chanting “Navalny!” as Navalny’s burial is close to commencing.

📹: Navalny’s team pic.twitter.com/yqqGpGfT27

— Novaya Gazeta Europe (@novayagazeta_en) March 1, 2024