Video: Russian Police Out In Force Ahead of Alexei Navalny's Burial In Moscow

Russian police took up positions near the church where opposition leader Alexei Navalny is due to be buried in Moscow later on Friday as his supporters had gathered in great number to bid him farewell.

There was heavy security at the church, an imposing white domed building in a Moscow suburb on Friday morning and it was surrounded by metal crash barriers with dozens of police vehicles parked nearby. People carrying flowers arrived early to try to get in as the morgue holding his body began the process of releasing it to his relatives.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s greatest critic, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death. But tension is high ahead of his funeral. Navalny’s wife Yulia has said she is unsure whether the funeral itself will pass off peacefully or whether police will arrest attendees. She is outside Russia. Navalny’s mother Lyudmila, 69, is expected to attend his funeral.

Around an hour and a half before the service was due to begin, his allies said over 1,000 people had gathered near the church to say goodbye to him, news agency Reuters reported. A religious service for Navalny was due to start at 1400 local time in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in the Moscow district of Maryino where Navalny used to live.

He is then scheduled to be buried at the Borisovskoye cemetery, around 2.5 km away on the other side of the Moskva River two hours later. The cemetery was sealed off with crash barriers on Friday morning. Allies of Navalny outside Russia have called on people who want to honour his memory but cannot attend his funeral service to instead go to certain landmarks in their own towns on Friday at 7 pm local time.

The Kremlin said any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would violate the law. “Just a reminder that we have a law that must be followed. Any unauthorised gatherings will be in violation of the law, and those who participate in them will be held accountable – again, in line with the current law,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

(With agency inputs)