TRANSCRIPT
Thousands of protesters have chanted Alexei Navalny's name and say they will not forgive Russian authorities for his death as the opposition leader was laid to rest in Southeast Moscow.
The Australian Ambassador to Russia, John Geering, was among several Western envoys who attended Mr Navalny's funeral.
The Kremlin, which has denied state involvement in Mr Navalny's death in an Arctic penal colony on the 16th of February, had said any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Mr Navalny would violate the law - but large numbers of police present did not intervene as thousands came to pay their respects.
This resident paid tribute to Mr Navalny, who died while imprisoned on charges he said were created by authorities to silence his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Alexei Navalny is the man who gave us hope that Russia could be a different country. That we deserved better. His faith in us, his optimism gave us energy. He is the man who gave us hope that Russia could be a happier country."
Many people held bunches of flowers and some joined in chants saying "No to war" in Ukraine and calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderer".
Kamilla was among them.
She did not provide her last name out of fear of reprisals.
"To tell the truth, it is very pleasant for me to be here in the company of like-minded people. Here, I don't know, more than 10,000 people and nobody is scared, everyone knows what they want. And we came just to honour the memory of the person who was not scared of anything. By the way, I massively admire Yulia Navalnaya - I don't know whether it is right to talk about it but she is a strong person."
Memorials were also held in several European cities.
In Brussels, Belgium, European Commission spokesperson Peter Santo condemned what he describes as obstacles the police were putting up during the former opposition leader's funeral.
"It's so obvious that the continued importance of Mr Alexei Navalny as a brave, modern politician and his anti-corruption work also after his death, continue to be underlined by the sheer panic and fear of the Russian state authorities surrounding his funeral. For example, the obstructions they are posing, the obstacles they are putting up the heavy police presence, not only around the Borisov Cemetery, but also around the underground stations and in the wider area.”
In Belgrade, Serbia, people lit candles and laid flowers outside the Russian Embassy.
Anna Galanova is a Russian citizen, one of thousands who fled Russia for Serbia after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
”Two weeks passed and I still can’t really understand this, I don’t know, I really wish I were in Moscow now, I even looked for plane tickets, but it’s just impossible, probably to just be with people, and to be altogether it really helps. So here we are and I am really glad to see all theses people here. I just miss him dearly and I would give a lot to just hear 'Hi - It’s Navalny!' once again.”
In London, a crowd of about 100 mourners, mainly Russian expatriates gathered, also outside Russia's embassy.
Paulina was among them speaking of the influence Mr Navalny had on her life.
“My political views were formed at some point by him as well. Obviously, not only. But his figure was important for me. So I consider him as someone important to me. I needed a place to grieve."
And in Paris, France, dozens gathered to lay flowers and light candles in memory of Mr Navalny, many expressing sadness and anger over his death, like Ilia Gurskii.
"He deserves more, he deserves a real funeral, a hero's funeral. I have a lot of friends in Russia, they could not come to Moscow, they're so afraid I'd say, because nobody knew what would happen today."
Russian rights monitoring group OVD-Info says police have arrested at least 128 people attending tributes to Mr Navalny in 19 cities across Russia
