Navalny’s mother brings flowers to his grave a day after thousands attended his funeral in Moscow

A day after thousands turned his burial into one of the biggest protests in recent memory, mourners in Moscow on Saturday included the mother and mother-in-law of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Russian independent TV station Dozhd (Rain) said that although there was a noticeable police presence at the cemetery, everything was under control.

“The police let those wishing to bid farewell to the politician pass through and do not rush anyone,” the outlet wrote on the Telegram messaging app, quoting one of its readers on the scene.

Furthermore, Dozhd revealed that "spontaneous memorials" honoring Navalny have been demolished in a number of Russian cities. It stated that flowers were taken down in cities like Voronezh and St. Petersburg.

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Thousands of people said goodbye to Navalny on Friday under tight police supervision following his unsolved murder in an Arctic prison colony two weeks prior. Outside of a church and cemetery in a wintry neighborhood of the city, thousands of people gathered to pay tribute to Navalny. They yelled anti-war and pro-Navalny slogans.

While OVD-Info, a rights organization that keeps track of political arrests, stated that at least 106 people were arrested at gatherings around Russia in Navalny's memory, police did not take any action against them. Most, it said, were stopped while attempting to place flowers at memorials honoring those who perished as a result of Soviet brutality.

Following a brief Russian Orthodox ceremony, Navalny was buried in front of sizable crowds that gathered outside the church before pouring flowers into his grave.

Yulia, Navalny's widow, did not show up for the funeral. She sincerely thanked him for "26 years of absolute happiness," promising to carry on his job.

After a legal battle to have his body released, there was a funeral. According to his team, the burial for the man who spearheaded large-scale rallies and waged a campaign against government corruption was turned down by a number of churches in Moscow. The Russian leader was accused of causing the death by a number of Western politicians, a charge that the Kremlin fiercely denied.

(With agency inputs)