Funeral service workers are refusing to transport the body of opposition politician Alexei Navalny for a church funeral service, following threatening calls from unidentified individuals, revealed by his press secretary Kira Yarmysh.
According to Moscow Times, Yarmysh shared on social network X that unknown callers have been threatening funeral teams to prevent them from moving Navalny's remains, leaving no hearse willing to undertake the task.
Navalny is scheduled to be buried at Borisov Cemetery in Moscow on March 1, with a funeral service at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows” in Maryino at 2:00 PM.
However, there will be no public farewell ceremony for the politician. According to Ivan Zhdanov, former director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, plans for a memorial service in a large hall in Novokosino were thwarted by authorities demanding a "quiet" funeral.
The Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug announced Navalny's death on February 16, stating that he fell ill during a walk and lost consciousness almost immediately at correctional colony No. 3 in the village of Kharp. Despite attempts to revive him for over half an hour, his life could not be saved.
Following his death, Navalny's body was transported from the colony in Kharp to Salekhard and subjected to a chemical examination by the Investigative Committee of Russia, a process that was to last 14 days during which access to his body was denied. On February 24, Navalny’s body was released to his mother, and it was disclosed that the medical report listed the cause of death as "natural."
