Alexei Navalny’s funeral to be held on Friday in Moscow

The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s funeral and memorial service will be held on Friday in Moscow, his spokesperson, Kira Yarmish, has announced.

The funeral will be held at the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow after a farewell ceremony at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in the Maryino district of the Russian capital.

“Come in advance,” Yarmish wrote on X.

Ivan Zhdanov, another close Navalny ally, said his team was unable to find a venue where his supporters could publicly bid him farewell later this week. The event was supposed to be separate from the funeral service.

Zhdanov said his team initially found a hall but were then pressured into holding a closed remembrance service without the public. “There won’t be a hall … They won’t give us the hall. Everyone will say goodbye to Alexei anyway,” Zhdanov wrote on X.

“To have a chance to say goodbye, it’s best to arrive early,” he added.

Navalny’s family and allies have accused the Kremlin of delaying the handover of his body and “blackmailing” his mother into agreeing to a private funeral without the general public in attendance.

It remains unclear whether the authorities will allow mourners to gather freely at the funeral on Friday.

Observers believe that the Kremlin appears to be going to great lengths to prevent Navalny’s funeral from turning into a public display of support for the late opposition leader before the country’s presidential elections next month.

Hundreds of people have previously been detained in Russia while laying flowers at vigils for Navalny across the country.

The Russian authorities claim Navalny, Putin’s most formidable domestic opponent, fell unconscious and died after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony. Navalny’s death certificate, according to supporters, said he died of natural causes.

Navalny’s team and his widow, Yulia, have accused Vladimir Putin of murdering him.

Maria Pevchikh, a close ally of the opposition leader, on Monday alleged Putin had the opposition leader killed in jail to sabotage a prisoner swap in which Navalny would have been exchanged for a convicted hitman jailed in Germany.

The Guardian and other western media have reported that Navalny was part of discussions on a prisoner exchange, although details of the deal remain unclear.