At least 340 people were arrested today in 30 Russian cities at events held in his memory Alexei Navalnyaccording to the human rights advocacy organization OVD-Info.
It is the biggest wave of arrests in political protests in Russia since September 2022, when more than 1,300 people were arrested in protests against Moscow’s “partial conscription” for its invasion of Ukraine.
OVD-Info reported that the largest number of arrests today took place in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where the pro-Navalni movement has traditionally been strong, with 74 and 49 detainees, respectively, as of 16:36 Greek time today.
Footage from Reuters in St Petersburg showed dozens gathering next to a memorial to victims of repression. Some laid flowers and left candles, while some sang hymns and others hugged each other, in tears. A Reuters reporter at the scene said about 30 people were arrested at the scene.
OVD-Info also reported isolated arrests in smaller cities across Russia, from the border city of Belgorod, where seven were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on Thursday, to Vorkuta, in the Arctic once home to a Stalin-era Gulag labor camp
Reuters was unable to verify the organization’s accounts and the Russian police denied to comment.
In the afternoon, his first public appearance after the news of Alexei Navalny’s death was made by Vladimir Putin.
The Russian president made no mention of the death of Alexei Navalny as he congratulated state oil and gas company Gazprom on its 31st anniversary.
The hundreds of flowers and candles left by passers-by in Moscow on Friday in Navalny’s memory were removed overnight in black bags. But several dozen roses and carnations remained on the soft snow, at the monument to the victims of Soviet oppression, in the shadow of the former headquarters of the KGB, on Lubyanka Square. Many Russians spoke of their despair, but others appeared indifferent to Navalny’s death.
Vladimir Nikitin, 36, left a carnation as police watched. When Reuters asked him for an interview, he preferred to speak in an underpass, fearing arrest. “Navalni’s death is terrible. Hopes were dashed,” said Nikitin. “He was a very serious, a brave man and now he is no longer with us. He was telling the truth and that was very dangerous because some people don’t like the truth,” he added.
Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reactions of Western leaders were unacceptable and “absolutely extreme”.
Navalny’s supporters saw him as Russia’s Nelson Mandela, who could one day be released and rule the country. His spokeswoman, Kira Jarmis, who yesterday said there was “virtually no hope” of his being alive, only today confirmed his death and called for his body to be returned to his family immediately.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, blamed Putin for her husband’s death and said the world should unite against the “horrible regime” in Moscow. But some Russians reject that view, citing a poll that shows most citizens disapprove of him and that Putin is far more popular.
“Navalny’s death benefits Putin’s opponents,” commented Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser. “They will use him to undermine the legitimacy of the presidential election in Russia, to not recognize Putin as the legitimate president. They are trying to portray Putin not as the president of an enemy country but as a criminal with whom one should not do business,” he said.
At Patriki, the epicenter of Moscow’s nightlife, many young Russians were partying on Friday night and there was no sign of grief over Navalny’s death. “Of course it’s sad when someone dies,” Olga Kazakova told Reuters. “But you in the West portrayed him as someone he was not. The West is not our friend – you are fighting against us in Ukraine,” he added.
On the bridge behind the Kremlin, where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on February 27, 2015, flowers were also removed. All that remained was a makeshift vase of white and red carnations, and a small note that read: “Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back and murdered here.”
Navalny’s mother searches for his body – It’s not in the morgue
Alexei Navalny’s mother and lawyer were told by the prison colony where the Russian opposition leader was imprisoned that he died on Friday of “sudden death syndrome”his close ally, Ivan Zhdanov, argued today, with a post on the X platform.
Navalny’s support group, in a Telegram post, accused his “killers” of trying to “cover their tracks” by not handing over the body to his relatives. “It is obvious that the killers want to cover their tracks. That’s why they don’t give Alexei’s body and hide it even from his mother,” this post emphasizes.
It is currently unclear where Navalny’s body is. A little earlier, his representative, Kira Jarmis, in her own post on the same platform said that Russian officials said that his body will not be handed over to his relatives until the investigation is completed. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
According to Jarmis, a second autopsy was performed and the results are “supposed” to be available next week.
Navalny’s relatives, for their part, demanded that the body be handed over to them immediately.
Yarmish said in a video posted online that Navalny’s mother Lyudmila, accompanied by his lawyer, went to the IK-3 prison colony in Yamalia region and was given an “official document” confirming his death. “Alexei Navalny was murdered,” added Jarmis, who, like many other dissidents, has gone into self-imposed exile to avoid prison. “He died at 14.17 local time on February 16, according to the official document given to his mother,” he added.
According to Jarmis, Lyudmila Navalnaya and the lawyer arrived at the prison at 11:00 local time today, but had to wait for two hours before being admitted.
It is unknown when the body will be released to relatives and where Navalny will be buried. It is also unclear where the body is, as the morgue where prison authorities say it was taken is closed and an employee assured the lawyer that it has not been received.
“The investigative committee has infinite options,” a worker told Reuters, citing other towns in the region, including Labitnangi, Nadim and Urengoy, where the body may be located. “In Salehard we only have one morgue. I have received no one, no body, no papers,” he added. When asked if the body might have been moved before he took over his shift, he replied: “Nobody gave me anything. I think that if such a body had been brought to us, they would have told me immediately.”
Harp’s IK-3 penal colony is located in the Arctic Circle, about an hour’s drive from Salekhard, the administrative capital of Yamalia-Nenets Autonomous Oblast.
Navalny’s team will keep his vision alive
Alexei Navalny’s team will keep alive his vision for change in Russia, his ally and spokesman Kira Yarmish said today in an interview with Reuters.
“We lost our leader, but we didn’t lose our ideas and beliefs,” Jarmis said, speaking via Zoom, from an undisclosed location.
The group, he added, held Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for what it called Navalny’s murder. She did not provide any evidence to support her claim, but recalled that in 2020 Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent in an assassination attempt, according to Western doctors.
At the time, Putin denied that the Russian state tried to kill Navalny, saying he would have “finished the job” if he really wanted to kill him.
“We knew there was danger, Alexei knew it too. And yesterday they murdered him, as they planned three years ago,” Jarmis said.
The prison service has not released a cause of death, only that Navalny collapsed after a walk.
Jarmis called on Western leaders to “put maximum pressure” on Putin over Navalny’s death and not to negotiate with him. As he said, Navalny was the symbol of hope that one day Russia “would become a normal democratic country, with fair elections, independent courts, free press (…) a peaceful and prosperous country.”
“Of course, everyone is devastated. Alexei was a man who collected all these ideas and fought for them. That’s why I’m sure his legacy won’t die with him and that people will come back to these ideas,” he concluded.
No comment from China
China’s foreign ministry declined to comment today on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying it was an “internal matter of Russia”.
“It is an internal matter of Russia. I will not comment on her,” said a spokesman when asked about the matter by AFP.
Beijing and Moscow are staunch allies and have strengthened their ties at a time when Western countries have turned their backs on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Their leaders also have a very good personal relationship and Chinese President Xi Jinping has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “good friend”.
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