Alexei Navalny’s funeral to be held in Moscow on Friday, allies say

Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny‘s funeral and farewell ceremony shall be held on Friday in Moscow, his spokesperson has mentioned.

The funeral shall be hosted on the Borisovskoye cemetery after a farewell ceremony beginning at 2pm at a church within the Maryino district, Kira Yarmysh mentioned on the X social community.

It is unclear whether or not his spouse Yulia – who has been dwelling in Germany since her Navalny’s arrest in 2021 -, his two kids or his mom Lyudmila shall be there.

Navalny, Vladimir Putin‘s strongest home critic, fell unconscious and died abruptly aged 47 on February 16 after a stroll on the ‘Polar Wolf’ penal colony above the Arctic Circle the place he was serving a three-decade sentence.

The West and Navalny’s supporters, together with his widow, say the Russian president is chargeable for Navalny’s dying. 

Russian authorities mentioned the reason for his dying at age 47 continues to be unknown, and the outcomes of any investigation are more likely to be questioned overseas. 

Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny ‘s funeral and farewell ceremony shall be held on Friday in Moscow , his spokesperson has mentioned

Many Western leaders have already mentioned they maintain Russian President Vladimir Putin chargeable for his dying. 

The Kremlin has denied involvement and mentioned that Western claims that Putin was accountable have been unacceptable. 

Navalny’s allies confronted a battle with Russian authorities to have his physique launched to them amid accusations that he was poisoned.

Navalny was allegedly chilly tortured within the Polar Wolf penal colony earlier than his dying, humanitarian group gulagu.web has claimed and requested an impartial examination of the Putin critic’s physique to search out out his reason for dying.

The group appealed to the US and EU to help the household in ‘exposing this political homicide’ and to ‘organise the evacuation of the physique for a full complete autopsy examination’. 

It is way from clear that the Russian authorities will allow any impartial probe after claiming Navalny, who was serving a 19-year jail sentence on the arctic colony, possible died from ‘sudden dying syndrome’.

Navalny’s spouse Yulia, 47, has claimed that her husband was murdered on Putin’s orders, and beforehand accused the dictator of Satanism in failing to go the physique to his household – which solely occurred per week after his dying.

On Sunday, Kyrylo Budanov, the top of Ukraine’s GUR navy intelligence service, advised his dying might be right down to pure causes as he claimed Navalny died from ‘a blood clot’.

After Navalny’s physique was lastly launched to his mom Lyudmila, 69, on Saturday, she was tasked with bringing the physique to Moscow.

Navalny’s allies mentioned they have been struggling to discover a venue for his funeral, with the Kremlin involved that any public gathering may result in protests. 

‘We began to search for a church and a corridor for the first of March. Everywhere they refused to provide us something. In some locations we have been informed it was forbidden,’ mentioned exiled ally Ivan Zhdanov.

‘We do not care in regards to the message. Alexei must be buried … To have an opportunity to say goodbye, it’s higher to come back upfront,’ he added.

But they’ve now confirmed that his funeral service shall be held on the ‘Mother of God Quench My Sorrows’ church in southern Moscow on Friday.

His supporters warned mourners to ‘come upfront’ as many are anticipated to pay their respects to the Putin critic.

This is a breaking information story. More to observe…