Alexei Navalny will be buried on March 1

The funeral service for Alexei Navalny will take place on March 1 in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows” in Moscow’s Maryino. The funeral will take place at the Borisov Cemetery in the southeast of the Russian capital. The politician’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, announced this on Wednesday, February 28.

The day before, Navalny’s associates said that they could not find a hall in Moscow to hold a farewell ceremony for the politician due to the refusal of funeral agencies and venues to provide them with such a service. FBK director Ivan Zhdanov said that farewell to Navalny and the funeral were planned to be held on February 29, but “it quickly became clear” that by this date “there is not a single person who could dig a grave.” Zhdanov connected this with the fact that on this day Vladimir Putin will deliver a message to the Federal Assembly.

The body of Alexei Navalny was given to his mother Lyudmila last Saturday, February 24. Before this, the Investigative Committee tried to give her an ultimatum - either she agrees to a secret funeral of her son without a public farewell, or Navalny will be buried in the cemetery near the colony, where he served his sentence. Lyudmila Navalnaya refused to comply with these demands.

Alexei Navalny died on February 16 in the special regime colony "Polar Wolf" in the village of Kharp in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The conclusion about his death states that the politician died of natural causes. The politician's supporters believe that he was killed. During his time in prison, Navalny was sent to a punishment cell 27 times.