The funeral of Alexei Navalny, who died at one of Russia’s harshest penal colonies, earlier this month will be held in Moscow on Friday, March 1 it has been announced.
The cause of death of the 47-year-old is still unknown, but many have blamed Vladimir Putin for ordering the killing of the anti-war critic.
Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, said the opposition leader would be laid to rest at a church in Moscow’s south-east Maryino district. She added that his burial would take place at a nearby cemetery.
Russian authorities said the cause of his death is still unknown, and the results of any investigation are likely to be questioned abroad.
Many Western leaders have already said they hold Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for his death.
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky also blamed Putin for his death, saying: “It is obvious to me: He was killed — like other thousands who were tortured to death because of this one man.”
Navalny’s wife Yulia was at the Munich Security Conference in Germany when the news of her husband’s death broke, scheduled to ‘talk about a better Russia’.
Following her husband’s death on February 16, she posted an emotional video in which she pledged to continue to fight against the regime and called on others to fight “harder, more desperately and more fiercely”.
She said in a video: “I know it already appears impossible to do more, but more is needed. To join up into a single powerful fist and strike their insane regime — Putin, his friends, the bandits in uniforms, thieves and murderers who have crippled our country.
“And that’s exactly why [Vladimir] Putin killed him — shamefully, cowardly, without ever looking him in the eye.”
The Kremlin has denied any involvement into Navalny’s death.
