(RightWing.org) – “The tyrant dies, and his rule is over; the martyr dies, and his rule begins.” ~Søren Kierkegaard
Alexei Navalny rose to prominence after he founded a group that targeted corrupt politicians. By 2021, the Russian government had enough and sentenced him to prison time and liquidated his organizations after designating them extremist. On February 16, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service reported that Navalny died at a corrective colony located in the Arctic Circle, kicking off protests at home and abroad. Recent reports indicate that he continues to plague President Vladimir Putin from the grave.
On March 1, Navalny’s funeral procession and service proved to be another headache for Putin when thousands of mourners gathered to pay their final respects. The government had already arrested hundreds of mourners at makeshift Navalny memorials since his death and had issued strict warnings to people about creating an incident during his funeral.
Kremlin insiders claimed that Putin had expressed concerns that Navalny’s death could trigger a repeat of Andrei Sakharov’s 1989 farewell, which many believe helped bring down the Soviet Union two years later. The Nobel Prize-winning nuclear physicist became a harsh critic of Soviet corruption in the last few years of his life, sparking widespread dissent within the former USSR.
Determined to avoid a repeat, Putin reportedly ordered his security services to take the necessary steps to prevent Navalny’s funeral from turning into a full-scale revolt over his policies.
Despite those efforts, clear signs of dissent could be observed among the thousands of mourners. For instance, video footage showed the presence of several large funeral wreaths bearing anti-government slogans arranged around Navalny’s grave. In several instances, mourners can be heard chanting, “Putin is a killer,” “We won’t forget,” and “Russia without Putin.”
Navalny’s parents, Lyudmila Navalnaya and Anatoly Navalny, attended the funeral service and reportedly stayed at his grave for several hours after the memorial ended. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, didn’t participate in the service. She previously expressed her concerns that the police might “arrest those who have come to say goodbye” to her husband. Navalnaya has vowed to carry on her husband’s work in his stead.
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