Death of Alexeï Navalny: Russians between emotion, indifference and leaden screed
Russian prison authorities announced Friday February 16 that Russian opponent and Alexeï Navalny had died at the age of 47 in the Arctic prison where he was serving a 19-year sentence. The only form of demonstration authorized in Russia: the solitary picket, so those among the Russians who want to show their emotion most often place flowers in front of the monuments to the victims of political repression.
People lay flowers to pay their last respects to Alexei Navalny at the monument, a large rock in the Solovetsky Islands, where the first camp of the Gulag political prison system was established, Friday, February 16, 2024. © Dmitry Serebryakov / AP
By: Anissa El Jabri Follow
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From our correspondent in Moscow,
The announcement first came from the Russian prison services: they announced the death of Alexeï Navalny after "
malaise
"
,
the public hospital in the town of Labytnangui, located near the
penal colony where he was imprisoned,
specifying then that “
the doctors who arrived on site continued resuscitation operations
” for “
more than 30 minutes
”, but that “
the patient had died
”.
The last time Alexeï Navalny was seen was very recent: it was this Thursday, February 15, in court via video link, his face increasingly hollow and thin. Equal to himself and smiling, despite
the mistreatment
, the recurring bullying and the repeated solitary confinement: he had just left the 26th grade on February 11.
The Russian authorities initially limited themselves to mentioning an ongoing investigation and an autopsy, before storming in the face of international reactions: “
There is no information on the cause of death and yet such declarations follow one another
( ...)
We consider such statements absolutely unacceptable,
” the Kremlin said.
Moscow warns against any “
unauthorized
” demonstrations
Shortly before, Moscow authorities warned residents of the capital against any “
unauthorized
” demonstrations: “
Organizing or holding unauthorized gatherings, calling for and participating in such events constitutes an offense administrative
”, warned the General Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow, saying “
warning against any violation of the law
”.
In Russia, emotion is expressed publicly mainly through flowers placed at monuments to the victims
of the political repression of the USSR
. These gestures are reported everywhere in the country: from Novosibirsk in Siberia, to Belgorod near the Ukrainian border, via Pskov Kazan or the capital. The authorities react in varied ways to these gestures. On the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, a few steps from the Kremlin in Moscow, flowers were laid at the same place where the opponent Boris Nemtsov was killed in 2015. Others, as in many cities elsewhere in Russia, on the monument to the victims of political repression. Each time, the police are very present... and in certain cities sometimes remove the flowers. In Yekaterinburg she even completely sealed off the place of the tribute.
During a solitary picket - the only last spontaneous action still authorized in Russia - a woman was arrested in Murmansk this Friday afternoon. In this northwestern city, she carried a sign reading “
her blood is on your hands, Vova
,” the most common nickname given to Vladimir Putin.
To get an idea of Russian reactions, when they exist, you have to contact people on the phone with the promise of anonymity and there you can hear talk of “
shock
”, “
darkness over Russia
”, “
sadness, for Alexey Navalny's family and for Russia
. A fellow traveler also said this Friday that “
Alexeï Navalny was more than a Russian politician, more than an opponent: he embodied the idea that we could still try to resist from within the country. He was stubborn and principled
.”
00:49
Shortly after the announcement, an anonymous Muscovite said she was “in shock”
Anissa El Jabri
Another Muscovite, also anonymous, oscillates between shock and resignation.
00:49
An anonymous Muscovite talks about the confusion in which she is plunged
Anissa El Jabri
Still anonymously, a third Muscovite says she is deeply sad.
00:51
Anonymous testimony evokes fear, pain and sadness following the announcement
Anissa El Jabri
The Russian head of state, who was “
informed
” of the facts, according to his spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, was filmed shortly after the news was made official during a trip to an automobile factory in the Urals. Not a word on the death of the man whose name he never mentioned in public... but during his 30-minute speech, many observers noted that the Russian head of state seemed singularly relaxed and that 'he was smiling.
People hold up their cell phones with flashlights as they pay their last respects to Alexei Navalny at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, February 16, 2024. © Dmitri Lovetsky/AP
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