Under a heavy police presence, thousands of people bade farewell Friday to Alexei Navalny at his funeral in Moscow after his death two weeks ago in an Arctic penal colony.
As his coffin was removed from the hearse and taken inside the church, the crowd waiting outside broke into respectful applause and then chanted: “Navalny! Navalny!”
After the short funeral, thousands marched from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, Soothe My Sorrows, to the nearby Borisovskoye Cemetery, where police were also out in force for the burial.
With the casket open, Navalny’s parents and others stroked and kissed his body.
Meanwhile, a large crowd of supporters gathered at the gates of the cemetery, chanting: “Let us in to say say goodbye!”
The coffin was then lowered into the ground, allies said.
Russian authorities still haven’t announced the cause of death for Navalny, who was 47.
