TRANSCRIPT
Three days after the shock death of Alexei Navalny, the crackdown against supporters in Russia is ramping up.
Hundreds have been arrested in cities across the country.
Flowers are seen as a form of protest against the government.
This is one of the supporters.
“ Even if you just walk with flowers on the city streets you're instantly seen as carrying a political message and feel the judgement of people."
Despite the heavy handed treatment by police, and as memorials to the late Kremlin critic are torn down, more and more supporters continue to pay tribute.
And the fight for change in Russia is showing no signs of slowing, as Navalny spokesperson Kira Yarmysh says.
"Yes, we lost our leader, but we didn't lose our ideas and our beliefs and we are confident that bright Russian future is possible and we will try to bring this future as close to us as soon as possible."
Outside Russia, demonstrations supporting Alexei Navalny are gathering momentum in countries like Germany, Spain and the US, as his death spurs on critics of Vladimir Putin.
This is Nadya Tolokonnikova who's a member of the activist group known as the Pussy Riot.
“I think, through protests, we can live through this grief in a more productive and effective way, both for ourselves and for the political situation.”
And here's Russian activist, Petr Kuzmin.
"We will definitely not give up. This is what Alexei Navalny told us when he recovered from his poisoning. If he is ever killed it will be a sign of Putin's weakness, not his strength so we're gearing up for the next stage in the fight."
And the fight is set to intensify in the coming weeks, when Russia's elections are held.
Alexei Navalny's supporters are bracing to turn out in numbers to voice their opposition to the Russian president next month.
Petr Kuzmin again.
“There are over 90 thousand polling places all over Russia. There will be crowds of people in Moscow, in St Petersburg, in regional cities all around Russia and we'll send a message to Putin and his corrupt regime that there are quite a lot of Russians who do not accept his rule."
One of those is Alexei Navalny's wife, Yulia who took centre stage in Munich over the weekend, and is expected to attend the EU foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels tonight.
After staying out of politics in the past she is set to continue carrying her husband's torch.
Today she posted a photo of herself and her husband, saying simply... "I love you".
