Top U.S. diplomats in Russia paid their respects Friday to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, saying he "remains a shining example of what Russia could and should be."
The American ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, went to the Moscow church where funeral services were held and laid red roses at a shrine outside. Russian authorities allowed only relatives and close friends inside the church. She was joined by the ambassadors from Germany and France, among many other diplomats.
Mary Glantz, acting director of the Center for Russia and Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace, told VOA she was amazed at the size of the crowd that turned out for Navalny’s funeral and burial, despite the clampdown on dissent since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago.
"But you can see at least thousands of people lining up for kilometers along the road to the cemetery where he is being buried. And they've chanted everything from, "We're not afraid," to "No war!," which is really striking, because it is illegal to say that in Russia."
At least 45 people were detained Friday for paying tribute to Navalny in several towns and cities, according to the monitoring group OVD-Info. Experts said Russian authorities have extensive surveillance video and there may be more arrests in the days and weeks ahead.
After first blocking mourners from entering Moscow's Borisovo Cemetery, some were eventually allowed in. Navalny's coffin was lowered into the grave to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s song "My Way."
Friday’s crowd in Moscow was the largest protest gathering in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine. Some Russians chanted, "Stop the war!" and "Bring the soldiers home."
The spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on Navalny as a political figure. But he did say, "Unauthorized gatherings will violate the law. So, those who will participate in them will be held accountable in accordance with the current law."
Navalny's team had called for his supporters to lay flowers or wreaths in their towns and cities across the country at 7 p.m. local time. Glantz said she saw photos of that happening, and that Navalny’s appeal across the country was what made Putin fear him so much. She also questioned the timing of Navalny’s sudden death in custody in a harsh, arctic prison, saying she believed Putin had him killed.
"So, it is interesting that he [Putin] chose to do this right before the election to create a martyr right then," she said.
Russia denies that the state is responsible for his death, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats say they hold Putin responsible, since Navanly was poisoned in Russia at least twice and was in Russian custody when he suddenly died.
Russia is holding presidential elections this month, and Putin is virtually certain to win since all true opposition candidates have either been jailed or barred or are dead. Putin has been in power in Russia, either as president or prime minister, since 2000.
Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who lives abroad, has taken up leadership of the opposition to Putin. Glantz said she would be a formidable opponent for him. "I've heard from people who've worked with Navalnaya that she is extremely capable and that they were a team. But they were a team in which she deliberately sort of put her light under a bushel basket in order to allow him to shine brighter," Glantz said.
Neither Navalnaya, nor her two children, nor Alexey's brother were able to attend the funeral for fear of almost certain arrest and detention. But Yulia Navalnaya posted an emotional tribute to her husband, thanking him for "26 years of absolute happiness."
