Alexei Navalny was a Christian who condemned the invasion of Ukraine as a mad venture built on lies. However, the church where his funeral will be held donated to the Russian army and wholeheartedly advertised its support for the war.
After the fight of the mother of Navalny, who died suddenly on February 16 in prison, for the Russian authorities to finally hand over her son's body, his supporters announced this Sunday that the funeral will be held today at the Church of the Icon of the Virgin near the place where the opposition leader once lived in the southeast of Moscow . After the ceremony, Navaljni will be buried at the nearby cemetery.
In the latest in a series of obstructions regarding the funeral, Navalny's allies said yesterday that unknown persons blocked their efforts to hire a hearse. A Reuters reporter noticed a heavy police presence near the church earlier yesterday.
Navalny's wife, Julija, said this Sunday that she is not sure that the event will pass peacefully and that the police will not arrest her husband's supporters. Lawyers have advised those planning to attend the funeral to reduce their risk by not wearing banners, T-shirts with inscriptions or falling for any "provocations".
If the funeral is held, during the funeral ceremony it is not expected that there will be stories about his fight against Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Namely, in the past two weeks, the church has unequivocally expressed the support of its clergy and congregation for the war in Ukraine in posts on social networks.
In one video, a priest and another man are shown standing in front of a NIVA jeep near a church. An unidentified male voice says that the vehicle was purchased with donated funds to help "our warriors" in Ukraine and wishes them victory and a safe return.
In the second clip, eight Sunday school girls, each wearing a military cap, are shown performing on the occasion of the national holiday of Defender of the Fatherland Day.
Earlier social media posts, reviewed by Reuters, showed churchgoers raising money to buy drones, warm clothes and other items for Russian soldiers. Volunteers wove camouflage nets and children wrote letters of support for the soldiers - typical expressions of support across Russia at a time when Putin is stressing the need for national unity and the Church is giving full support to the war.
The head priest at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God is Anatoly Rodinov, 71, whose biography states that he was a lieutenant in the Soviet army as a young man.
Critics of Russia's church leaders, who have introduced a special prayer for a Russian victory in Ukraine and kicked out priests who pray for peace instead, say the activities of Rodinov's church show it is firmly aligned with the Kremlin's messages.
"I hope that he will only give a sermon and not say anything in his name over the grave of Alexei," said Ksenia Luchenko, an analyst of religious issues from Germany, commenting on the priest's participation in the funeral.
Navalny has spoken about his religious feelings on a couple of occasions, and one of his last legal battles was to allow him to have a Bible and a book of psalms in his cell. "Most people are atheists, and I was a militant atheist. But now I'm a believer, and that helps me because everything has become easier," he said in 2021.
"I question less, I have less dilemmas, there is a book (Bible) that clearly says what should be done in a certain situation. It's not always easy to stick to it, but generally speaking, I try”.
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