The death of Navalni and its circumstances
Navalny’s death has shocked much of the Russian population. The opponent par excellence of the current president, Vladimir Putin, died a few weeks ago in a prison in the colony of Kharp, a town in northern Russia, just under 60 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, sentenced to 19 years for extremism. Although the Russian authorities pointed out that it was due to natural causes, his followers accuse the Putin government of having killed his opponent.
As if the tension wasn’t enough, during the funeral held in memory of Aleksei Navalni, a total of 128 people were arrested, including two minors and a journalist who were trying to access the celebration. The Russian authorities have not made public the arrests, but the victims themselves have assured that it was because they wanted to attend the funeral.
Repression and mass arrests
The NGO OVD-Info, which specializes in monitoring arrests, has pointed out that the largest number of arrests has been registered in Novosibirsk, with at least 31 arrests, as well as in other places, such as Yekaterinburg, with 19, and Moscow, with 17. There have also been arrests in Voronezh, Saint Petersburg, Cheliabinsk, Astrakhan or Kazan. From all these cities they wanted to get to the funeral of the opponent, which has not been possible for more than a hundred people because of the Russian forces.
The repression has not only targeted the people who wanted to attend the funeral, but has also affected the religious authorities in charge of officiating the celebration. Sources from the NGO OVD-Info have assured that the funeral lasted only 20 minutes because ‘they were pressured to shorten’ the event.
Arrest of an adviser to the Russian opposition
In addition to the mass arrests, Pavel Sichev, an adviser to opposition leader Boris Nadezhdin, has also reportedly been detained. Sichev is critical of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and his candidacy for the presidential elections in March has been rejected by the Electoral Commission.
Thus, Navalny’s death and its repercussions in Russia have generated great tension and repression on the part of Putin’s government, affecting both Navalny’s followers and the opposition’s religious authorities and advisers.
