TRANSCRIPT
St Petersburg crowd chanting (Russian) "Navalny, Navalny!" "For what?" "For the truth!"
In St Petersburg, Russians risked arrest to pay their respects to opposition figure Alexei Navalny, after Russia's prison service reported the jailed Kremlin critic had died in a remote Arctic penal colony.
In Moscow, people were detained after residents laid flowers at the monument to Soviet-era political prisoners.
Tearful residents said the 47-year-old ex-lawyer's reported death meant the "death of Russia".
But this woman said the hope for change wouldn't die.
"Yes, we want to cry but the hope won't die. I think the evolution cannot be defeated. Everything will come back in its place, and common sense and wellbeing of people will prevail, and everything will come back in its place."
After a warning against gatherings by the Kremlin, vigils in Russia were small compared to the massive anti-corruption protests once organised by Mr Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic foe.
But around the world - from Washington to Vilnius - and in Australia, protests and vigils have been held to celebrate the life of Mr Navalny, and to hold the Russian president responsible.
The reported death comes three years into a 19-year sentence, after a 2020 nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin, on extremism charges he rejected as a politically motivated effort to keep him imprisoned for life.
Questions remain over his death but Russian authorities claim he fell unconscious and died after a walk at the colony.
U-S President Joe Biden said despite uncertainty around the death, he had no doubt it was the responsibility of Mr Putin and "his thugs".
He paid tribute to Mr Navalny's truth-telling, even in the face of threats to his life.
"Even in prison he was a powerful voice of the truth, which is kind of amazing when you think about it. And he could have lived safely in exile after the assassination attempt on him in 2020, which nearly killed him, I might add. And, but he, he was traveling outside the country at the time. Instead, he returned to Russia. He returned to Russia knowing he'd likely be imprisoned or even killed if he continued his work. But he did it anyway because he believed so deeply in his country, in Russia."
The leaders of France, Germany and the U-K have also paid tribute and held the Russian president responsible, while U-N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is shocked and has urged a "full, credible and transparent investigation".
Speaking in Melbourne, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she is saddened by Mr Navalny's death.
"His resistance, his opposition to a repressive regime was inspiring to so many people around the world and we made clear that we hold the Russian government solely responsible for his treatment and his death.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has described Mr Navalny as a hero who died for a country he loved, calling Mr Putin as "a murderous dictator".
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has hit back at the reaction of Western leaders to the reported death, which he described as "unacceptable".
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the tragic reports of Mr Navalny's death showed the importance of upholding democratic values.
"We have a divide in the world, between authoritarian regimes and democracies. We cannot take democracy for granted. We need to cherish it and nurture it, and we need to call out the behaviour of authoritarians like Vladimir Putin."
As international leaders mull their response, many, including Mr Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, say the reported death shows the importance of providing more aid to Ukraine.
Mr Putin's crackdown on domestic dissent is widely seen to have increased in the aftermath of its 2022 invasion.
In Sydney and Melbourne, where expat-Russian communities and supporters of Mr Navalny have held vigils, the hope is that Mr Navalny's reported death will be a watershed moment for democracy in Russia.
Petr Kuzmin, Co-ordinator of the Free Navalny Campaign in Australia, told SBS News he is determined not to let Alexei Navalny's death be in vain.
"He always said: 'Do not despair - if I ever get killed, that means that this is the moment when we have the most power, and you should use that power and really push Putin's regime as hard as you can.' So that's my determination - I'm determined to do a lot more than I was doing before and I hope that Alexei Navalny's death has that effect on other people as well."
