The funeral will take place at 2:00 p.m. (local time, 12:00 p.m. in the Basque Country), under the watchful eye of the Kremlin. Since yesterday, both the church and the cemetery have important police devices and metal fences.
Moscow will say its final farewell today, Friday, to the late opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, under the watchful eye of the authorities who have reinforced security at the politician’s farewell venues. The opponent died on February 16 when he was in a prison in the Arctic Circle serving a 30-year sentence.
The funeral will take place at 2:00 p.m. (local time, 12:00 hours in Euskal Herria) in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, located in the Mariino district (southeast of the city). The burning chapel will be installed there, and once the funeral is over, Navalny will be buried in the Borisov cemetery, in the same area (2:00 p.m. in the Basque Country).
Since yesterday, both the church and the cemetery have important police devices and metal fences. In addition, multiple surveillance cameras and other devices that can serve as internet and mobile phone signal inhibitors have been placed on the cemetery’s lampposts.
For a few days now, the opposition’s team has been reporting obstacles to organizing the funeral. First, all funeral agencies refused to take care of the funerals. Then, there were difficulties in agreeing on the date of the funeral, because “there was not a single person available to dig a grave” on February 29, a date chosen by the family that coincided with the state of the nation address given this Thursday by the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmish, has revealed that there are obstacles to transferring the politician’s body to the church.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, has denied such pressure. “The Kremlin has nothing to do with this. Naturally, the Kremlin cannot exert pressure. This is another absurd statement by its supporters,” said Dmitri Peskov, presidential spokesman.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, appeared yesterday before the Russian Federal Assembly. During his speech, he warned NATO that the consequences of sending troops to Ukraine would be “tragic.”
Navalni’s widow fears that there will be arrests at the funeral
Navalni’s widow, Yulia Navalnayaappeared on Wednesday at the European Chamber. Navalnaya claimed that the body of her late husband has been “corrupted,” and that under Putin’s orders, he was tortured for three years.
She also warned that they still do not know if the police will arrest “those who come to say their last goodbye” to her husband. Finally, she considered that the Russian president must “answer for what he has done to Russia, Ukraine and Navalny.” .
Source: Eitb
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