Mountain of flowers left at Alexei Navalny’s grave continues to grow as thousands of mourners pay their last respects to Putin’s ‘murdered’ rival two days after his funeral in Moscow

The mountain of flowers left by thousands of mourners paying their respects to Alexei Navalny, the outspoken dissident who was allegedly murdered at the hands of the Russian state last month, has continued to grow two days after his funeral. 

Navalny died in the IK-3 penal colony, also known as Polar Wolf, in the settlement of Kharp in the Yamal-Nenets Region of Russia, around 1,200 miles from Moscow, on February 16. 

His funeral service took place on Friday in the Soothe My Sorrows Church in Moscow, where his family held an open casket funeral for his loved ones and his closest followers. 

Under a heavy police presence, Mr Navalny’s mother Lyudmilla Navalnaya was accompanied by his mother-in-law, Alla Abrosimova, who joined other mourners to say a final goodbye to Mr Navalny 

But more than 48 hours later, thousands are still taking to the streets of Moscow to pay their respects to the dead dissident. 

Later the cemetery was closed but a crowd of hundreds demanded to be let in to pass Navalny’s grave.

They chanted: ‘Let us in’ and ‘Open up’.

Others chanted: ‘Killed’.

Police retained a presence at the cemetery on Sunday, though it was lighter than in previous days and there were no signs of mass arrests.

Queues to enter the cemetery snaked alongside a major road for about half a kilometre on Sunday afternoon.

Mourners laid stacks of red, white and yellow roses and carnations on his grave. By Sunday afternoon the pile was almost two metres high, with an Orthodox cross at the head of the grave barely visible above the flowers.

Others tied them to the gates of the burial ground.

There was a mix of anger, grief, hope and despair among the crowds on Sunday.

‘I don’t even know what to say. I am very sorry that this is happening in our country right now, and that we are all mourning for the man he was. I hope someday everything will stop. Maybe the catastrophe will stop and we can finally live in peace and happiness,’ said Anastasia, a 28-year-old designer.

Almost all of Russia’s opposition figures have been jailed, have died or fled abroad during Putin’s 24-year rule.

Navalny’s allies have accused the Kremlin of ordering him killed and Western leaders have said Putin is ‘responsible’ for his death.

Putin has not commented publicly on the death of his most vocal critic.

Alexander, a 45-year-old audio engineer said the large crowds backing Navalny was its own form of voting – ahead of a March 15-17 presidential election, dismissed as neither free nor fair by rights groups and independent vote monitors.

‘Everybody is showing their opinion,’ he told AFP.

Authorities have scrubbed all genuine opposition candidates from the ballot, while the country’s most prominent Putin critics who are still alive are in prison or abroad.

Graphic designer Olga, 25, who also came to the cemetery on Friday, said she took encouragement from the large turnout.

‘It’s hard. But when I came here on the first day … and saw the people, somehow some kind of strength appeared,’ she told AFP.

‘I didn’t want to give up at all. So it’s hard, but it feels like something is being revived inside. I don’t want to give up and I won’t give up. Just like Alexei asked,’ she said.

The Borisovskoye cemetery closed at 5pm in Moscow.

It may not open until next weekend.

Defiant mourners have braved the fury of the Russian state, which arrested nearly 70 people across Russia for daring to mourn the loss of the opposition figure. 

Arrests took place ‘in 16 towns’ across Russia, including six in Moscow where the funeral of Vladimir Putin’s most feared critic was held.

The ceremony took place under a huge police presence as thousands defied the president’s warnings and descended on the capital.

Some 18 people were detained in Siberian city Novosibirsk alone, according to OVD-Info.

It is believed that arrests were also made in the cities of Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk in central Russia.

Mourners following the hearse in Moscow threw red carnations as it passed and could be heard shouting ‘Putin is a murderer’ and ‘Russia will be free’.

There were also unconfirmed reports that Navalny’s supporters were arrested as they left their homes to attend the funeral.

It is thought that one of those detained during the ceremony was an opposition politician.

The Kremlin had warned that action would be taken against any ‘unauthorised protests’ on the day of Navalny’s funeral, with 400 having been arrested for laying flowers at memorial sites following the outspoken politician’s death two weeks ago.

Riot police, who wore balaclavas, lined the streets around the Russian Orthodox church and police snipers could be spotted on roofs near the scene.

Under the heavy police presence, a long queue could be seen forming near the church in the southeast of the capital, with reports saying thousands were in attendance.

One person said: ‘I feel this is a funeral for the Russia that might have been.’

As the coffin was carried out of a black hearse and into the church, loud chants of ‘Navalny, Navalny!’ rang out around the square outside.

While attendee details were not known, the French, German and US ambassadors were in the crowd, as were some of Russia’s last free independent politicians. 

The international community swiftly condemned the death of Alexei Navalny, with many nations suspecting or even outright accusing Vladimir Putin of orchestrating his death. 

Canada today announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russia on Sunday over the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The latest sanctions will target six Russian officials, including senior officials and high-ranking employees of Russia’s prosecution, judicial and correctional services, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement.

Canada’s sanctions follow the UK and the US, both of which targeted Russia with heavy sanctions. 

The US announced more than 500 new sanctions against key parts of Russia’s economy, including its main card payment system, financial and military institutions and officials involved in Navalny’s imprisonment. 

The UK, meanwhile, introduced more than 50 new sanctions that aim to take out Russia’s war machine, focusing on suppliers of rocket launchers, missiles and explosives. 

The UK also sanctioned six Russian prison bosses in charge of the Polar Wolf penal colony. 

The outpouring of affection for President Vladimir Putin’s staunchest opponent comes just two weeks before the Kremlin leader is set to secure another six-year term in an election where he will face no real competition.