Russian Opposition Leader Navalny's Funeral Planned In Moscow On Friday

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s funeral service will be held at a church in southern Moscow on Friday, said the aide of the late politician.

“Alexei’s funeral will be held in a church … in Maryino on 1 March at 14:00. Come in advance,” his team said in a social media post on Wednesday. Navalny, 47, Russia’s best-known opposition politician, died Feb. 16 in an Arctic penal colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges.

On Monday, associates of Navalny said that talks were underway shortly before his death to exchange him for a Russian imprisoned in Germany. “Alexei Navalny could have been sitting here now, today. It’s not a figure of speech,” Maria Pevchikh, a close associate who lives outside Russia, said in a video statement.

She said she received confirmation the talks were in the “final stages” on Feb. 15, the day before Navalny was reported dead. Her claims, which were reiterated on social media by other Navalny aides, could not be independently confirmed and she did not offer any evidence to back them up.

Navalny and two US citizens held in Russia were supposed to be swapped for Vadim Krasikov, according to Pevchikh. He was serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing in Berlin of Zelimkhan “Tornike” Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen descent. German judges said Krasikov acted on the orders of Russian authorities, who gave him a false identity, passport and resources to carry out the killing.

German officials have refused to comment when asked if there had been any effort by Russia to secure a swap of Krasikov. Pevchikh alleged in her video, without offering evidence, that Putin “wouldn’t tolerate” setting Navalny free and decided to “get rid of the bargaining chip.”

Navalny had been jailed since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow of his own accord after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. He was later handed three prison sentences on charges he rejected as politically motivated.

(With agency inputs)