Hundreds of people gathered for the funeral of Alexei Navalny

The funeral of rival Alexei Navalny was to take place today, but moments before it was to begin there was a stir when a family spokesman announced that the body had not been handed over to his relatives. Since he died in the Arctic prison, those around him have been struggling to see his body. Shortly afterward, Navalny’s team said the hearse carrying the Russian rival’s remains was headed to a Moscow church for his funeral.

About 1,000 people have gathered to say goodbye to the dissident. The Kremlin has already warned about “unauthorized” demonstrations.

His supporters say many Moscow churches refused to hold services in front of Navalny’s team Received permission for one in the capital’s Marino districtwhere he lived before being poisoned in 2020, receiving treatment in Germany and then being detained upon his return to Russia.

The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Relieve My Sorrows, which agreed to hold the service, did not mention it on its social media pages. Authorities cordoned off the road from the nearby subway station to the church with crowd control barriers and deployed large numbers of riot police early Friday.