West must 'split Russian society away from supporting Putin', support 'media & opposition in exile'

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Alexei Navalny, Russia's galvanizing opposition leader and the Kremlin’s fiercest foe, was buried at a Moscow cemetery on Friday, as thousands of supporters bade him farewell. Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony last month. He was 47. Allies said Navalny was buried after a short service at a church on the outskirts of Moscow. A photo from inside the church showed an open casket with the politician's body covered with red and white flowers, and his mother sitting beside it holding a candle. Under a heavy police presence, thousands of people bade farewell in Moscow on Friday to Alexei Navalny at his funeral after his still-unexplained death two weeks ago in an Arctic penal colony. The funeral followed a battle with authorities over the release of the body of President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic. His supporters said several churches in Moscow refused to hold the service for the man who crusaded against official corruption and organized big protests. Many Western leaders blamed the death on the Russian leader, an accusation the Kremlin angrily rejected. Navalny’s team eventually got permission from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows, which was encircled by crowd-control barriers on Friday. Hours before the funeral started, hundreds waited to enter under the watch of police. Western diplomats were spotted in the long line, along with presidential hopefuls Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova. Both wanted to run against Putin in the upcoming presidential elections and opposed his war in Ukraine; neither was allowed on the ballot. After the hearse arrived at the church, the coffin was taken out of the vehicle, as the crowd applauded and chanted: “Navalny! Navalny!” Some also shouted: “You weren’t afraid, neither are we!” A photo from inside the church showed an open casket with Navalny’s body covered with red and white flowers, and his mother sitting beside it holding a candle. Navalny's father was also present, but it wasn't clear who else in his family attended. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, just two days ago addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France; his daughter is a student at the Stanford University, and the whereabouts of his son are unknown. As Navalny is laid to rest, FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza is joined by Stephen Hall, Lecturer / Assistant Professor in Russian and Post-Soviet Politics at the University of Bath.