From a Funeral Image: The Textures of Faith and State in Russia

This image of the body of Aleksei A. Navalny in a coffin, in a church in southern Moscow, reflects many of the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, an institution closely associated with the Kremlin, but also counted opposition figures, including Mr Navalny, among his faithful.

“To my shame, I am a typical post-Soviet believer,” Navalny said in a speech interview in 2012. “I fast, I was baptized in the church, but I go to church quite rarely.”

Being an Orthodox Christian, he said, gave him the feeling “that I am part of something big and shared.”

He added: “I like that there are special ethics and self-control. At the same time, it doesn’t bother me at all that I live in a predominantly atheist environment. Until I was 25, before the birth of my first child, I was such an ardent atheist myself that I was willing to grab the beard of any priest.”

These comments reflected the circumstances of many Russians who came of age as the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russian Orthodox Church returned to prominence in public life.

Over the past twenty years, the church has been closely aligned with the increasingly conservative and nationalistic views of President Vladimir V. Putin. That has forced critics like Navalny, and groups of progressive believers, to try to reconcile their political dissent and their faith.

The church in southern Moscow where the mass was held – the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God soothes my sorrow – is not far from where Mr Navalny lived until 2017 and where his family had an apartment.

In the image, Mr. Navalny’s father, Anatoly, sits facing the coffin. To his right are Mr. Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and a woman some Russian media say is his mother-in-law, a relative who has stayed out of the public eye.

Mr Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and his children did not appear to be present. Mrs. Navalnaya has vowed to continue her husband’s political activities, which exposes her to arrest, and she and their children no longer live in Russia. His brother Oleg, who served time in prison in what was widely seen as punishment for Mr Navalny’s political activities, was also absent.

The Russian Orthodox Church has formally embraced Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which Mr Navalny vehemently denounced. Patriarch Kirill, the church’s top official, has blessed soldiers sent to war and said those who fight for their country will be rewarded in heaven.

However, the Orthodox Church is relatively decentralized, so even as Putin cracked down on opposition and dissent, progressive priests remain in some parishes. Priests who have expressed their opposition to the war have been confronted with this accusationsin some cases expulsion, from church authorities, and even arrest.

The church where Mr Navalny’s funeral rites took place has also appeared endorse the war. Images shared on social media pages in recent weeks announced that parishioners had donated a car to the soldiers fighting in what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” and organized letter-writing campaigns for the troops. A trip by parishioners and their children to one was also advertised great cathedral of the Russian armed forceswhich opened in 2020 and has become a symbol of the militarization of Russian society.