Alexei Navalny's funeral date set in Moscow: Here's what we know

Warsaw, Poland - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's funeral will be held on Friday in a Moscow church, two weeks after his sudden death in an Arctic prison, his allies announced Wednesday.

People gather at a makeshift memorial for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny organized at the monument to the victims of political repressions in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Friday.
People gather at a makeshift memorial for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny organized at the monument to the victims of political repressions in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Friday.  © Olga MALTSEVA / AFP

Authorities resisted handing Navalny's body to his family for eight days, in what his team said was an attempt to "cover up" official involvement in his death and prevent a public burial.

His widow Yulia Navalnaya said she feared her husband's funeral could be disrupted by arrests.

"I'm not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or whether the police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband," Navalnaya told the European Parliament.

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Navalny's team said in a social media post that a funeral service would be held at the Mother of God Quench My Sorrows church in Maryino on March 1 at 2 PM.

"Come in advance," the post said.

The burial of the opposition leader, who had embraced Christianity, is set to take place at the Borisov cemetery, a short walk from the banks of the river Moskva.

Finding a church willing to host the service was difficult, the team said, as the Kremlin was afraid a public funeral could turn into a show of support for Navalny.

Alexei Navalny's family struggles to find venue for civil funeral ceremony

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny, told the European Parliament on Wednesday that she feared her husband's funeral could be disrupted by arrests.
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Kremlin opposition leader Alexei Navalny, told the European Parliament on Wednesday that she feared her husband's funeral could be disrupted by arrests.  © FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

"We started to look for a church and a hall for March 1. Everywhere they refused to give us anything. In some places we were told it was forbidden," said exiled ally Ivan Zhdanov.

Other allies said that places refused after hearing Navalny's name.

"Alexei needs to be buried... To have a chance to say goodbye, better to come in advance," he added.

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But a civil ceremony allowing the general public to pay their respects to the body – common in Russia – has not been allowed.

"Two people are to blame for the fact that we have no place for a civil memorial service and farewell to Alexei: [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and [Moscow Mayor] Sergei Sobyanin," Navalnaya said on X.

She added the family "did not want a special treatment – just to give people the chance to say goodbye."

Navalny died on February 16 in one of Russia's toughest prisons in northern Siberia, where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges widely seen as political retribution for his opposition.

Russian authorities said Navalny died of "natural causes" but his team and some Western leaders have accused Putin of being directly responsible for his death.

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A man lays flowers for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the monument to the victims of political repressions in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Saturday.
A man lays flowers for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at the monument to the victims of political repressions in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Saturday.  © Olga MALTSEVA / AFP

Details of the funeral and how many mourners will be allowed to attend are unclear, and there was no immediate response from Russian officials.

Authorities had reportedly threatened to bury him on the prison grounds where he died unless his family agreed to a private ceremony, his team previously said.

Putin, who famously never referred to the opposition leader by name, has so far remained silent on Navalny's death.

Authorities have cracked down on public gatherings in memory of Navalny, however, detaining hundreds for laying flowers at memorials and other acts of protest.

Dozens have already been handed prison sentences, including 154 in Saint Petersburg alone.

The opposition leader shot to prominence through his anti-corruption campaigning, exposing what he said was rampant corruption at the top of Putin's administration.

He was arrested in January 2021 when he returned to Russia after being treated in Germany for a poisoning attack he suffered while campaigning against Putin in Siberia months earlier.

Cover photo: Olga MALTSEVA / AFP

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