Several thousand Russians braved fear and the cold to pay their last respects to Alexeï Navalny.
The opponent of Vladimir Putin died in a prison in the Arctic Circle in murky circumstances.
The police, very numerous, strictly supervised the burial.
Several people (45 according to an NGO) were arrested throughout Russia for having demonstrated their attachment to Alexeï Navalny.
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After a short Orthodox religious ceremony, the coffin is closed, even though some shout:
“Let me say goodbye to him, don’t close it!”
.
Outside, several thousand sympathizers applaud as the coffin of Vladimir Putin's number one critic comes out.
Some have moist eyes and flowers in their hands.
The emotion is palpable.
Near the Borissovo cemetery where Alexei Navalny was buried moments later, people shout:
“We will not forget you!”
,
“Forgive us!”
.
“I don't know how to live without you, but I will try to make sure that you are up there, happy for me and proud of me. I don’t know if I will succeed, but I will try
,” his widow, Yulia Navalnaïa, wrote on Instagram.
In a more personal part, the Russian talks about her regrets, including the
“stories”
she would have liked to tell him and the
“songs recorded in (her) phone”
.
“I wanted to watch you listen to them, laugh and hug me,”
she explained.