"He was not afraid, and we are not afraid!"

Thousands of Russians experienced pain and hope during the funeral of Alexei Navalny. That's how it was

The funeral of Alexei Navalny gathered tens of thousands of people on the outskirts of Moscow, who came to say goodbye to the main opposition politician of modern Russia. Despite the fears of many, the farewell passed relatively calmly: the power acceleration did not happen, and the police behaved quite intelligently - as if they had listened to the demand of Julia Navalny. However, more than a hundred people were still behind bars, and the queue that grew into a spontaneous rally to the grave of Navalny could cause new criminal cases. "Cold" tells how a farewell to Alexei Navalny passed.

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In the area of ​​12 days in all carriers of the metro on the salad branch, several people with bouquets were noticeable. It seems that there were no less police officers who meet people on the platform of the Maryino station. At the exit from the metro, the woman anxiously asked passers -by where you can buy flowers. In the nearest store, there were more than 20 people behind the bouquet, about a dozen at the neighboring one.

At the intersection in front of the temple, “my sorrows” were “satisfied”, where farewell to Alexei Navalny was planned, the police directed people in a long queue, which left the temple deep into the sleeping area. The line stretched two kilometers towards the Bratislavskaya metro station, and the effect of the crowd that could have developed from the number of people who came, this was weaker: it was probably done specifically so that there were no analogies with the funeral of Academician Sakharov.

- Wasn't you scared to come goodbye to Alexei Navalny today? - I asked one of the young people who came goodbye.

- No. The risk that those who came here today was nothing in comparison with what risks and what sacrifice Navalny took on,-19-year-old Anton replies. - I feel my duty and duty, so today there was no fear, although it was at other similar events. Today it was impossible not to come for me.

Around the fence of the temple, people stood in a dense ring, at the entrance to the temple - two columns of the police. There were few people on the territory of the temple: relatives and relatives of Navalny, numerous diplomats, press, including foreign ones. There was no connection near the temple - it appeared only a few hundred meters from it. The police behaved surprisingly calmly, as if there were no last years of tough detentions and thousands of arrests at protests and rallies.

Without ten two, several cars drove into the temple, from one of them a coffin was carried out. From the side streets adjacent to the temple, the crowd began to chant: “There is no war! No war! " And "Navalny! Navalny! ”

At 14:45, under the ringing of bells, a coffin with a body was taken out of the temple. There was silence over the streets of Maryino, stretched through the streets of Maryino - people realized that they would not be allowed to say goodbye to Navalny in the temple. People started moving towards the cemetery.

- Tell us, why did you come goodbye to Alexei today?

“It seems to me that he did so much for us that it was impossible not to come, not to do at least this,” says Leonid, who is 48 years old. - He returned to Russia, stayed with us, did not leave, accepted his martyrdom, gave us an example of stamina, courage and firmness.

"For me, it is clear what I feel"

When the funeral procession began movement towards the cemetery, dozens of bouquets of flowers flew from the first rows to it, and the crowd began to chant: “Russia will be free! Russia will be free! ”

The young girl screamed especially vigorously. She introduced herself as a “man from the crowd”, she is 18 years old.

- Why did you come here today, what does this mean for you?

- I pulled here very much, I was just eager for here. At least to conduct a person who has done a lot, remains an example of resistance. It is necessary to strive to be like him: he perceived with a smile everything that they did with him. Today we can get together, conduct it and show that we do not give up.

Around again they began to shout: “Navalny! Navalny! ”, And the girl“ from the crowd ”was interrupted to join the chanting.

- Why do I need to be afraid to come and conduct a person? She continues. - Why do I need to be afraid to say what I think? Why? What is this? The honor is followed by me.

A woman of about 60 was crying near the fence of the temple, mascara flowed along her cheeks. When asked whether it is possible to ask her about how she feels, she replied: "For me, it is clear to me that I feel." There were many people in tears - both young and age. But, despite the sadness, the mood in the crowd was combat: people were briskly chanted how they had not done this in Moscow for several years.

The crowd filled the understudy of Lublin Street and moved along it towards the Bratheevsky bridge, and then the alley of the park of the 850th anniversary of Moscow.

At the pet store on the way to the cemetery, the drunken man of about 40 years old shouted to someone in the crowd: “I will show you“ will be free ”, come here, you will get such freedom!” Throwing a lit cigarette into the crowd, he began to go down from the steps, but after the first shout he calmed down.

A man with a neat gray beard named Alexei Anatolyevich, who was 71 years old, answered the question of why he came here, so:

- For me, what he did, to which he called for, what he dreamed about, is completely consistent with my own views. With all disagreements in separate things - in fact he was my like -minded person. So I'm here. This is a tragedy, I am madly sorry for Alexei. He is the same age as my children, a friend of some of them. First of all, it is a pity to Lyudmila Ivanovna and his father, Julia, children. Losing such a person at this age is horror, it is scary. This is a huge loss for the country. With his departure, we lost a chance for more smooth changes in our country. I am afraid that with his loss everything will only be worse, sharply, perhaps bloodiest.

People completely filled the Borisov ponds Street - it was on it that the Borisov cemetery is located on it - resting on a police cordon at the entrance to the cemetery. A small square between the Pond shopping center and a multi -storey residential building was quickly filled with people and turned into a rally site. Without the opportunity to move on, the crowd began to chant more actively: “He was not afraid, and we are not afraid!”, “Russia without Putin!”, “This is a murder!” And "Julia! Julia! Julia!".

In the square in front of the shopping center, people who could advance closer to the cemetery built an obelisk from the snow, around which a mountain of flowers grows in half an hour.

A young man named Alexei the question why he came here today, answered:

-It seems to me that I began to be interested in politics because of this person, so for me this is a personal story. When all this happened, the sensations were like on the day of the beginning of the war. The activity of Alexei was interesting to everyone who, like me, is now studying at senior courses at the university. Everyone knew who he was, and wanted to believe in the best future thanks to him. I have never been to rallies, but I thought that if I did not come here today, I simply will not forgive myself.

Nearby, a woman of retirement age spoke with a young man about 20 years old, an obviously random interlocutor:

- A friend died with a friend, I ask her: “How do you support what you took from your son?” She is silent, the look at the same time - as if she does not understand herself. But he is silent.

Over time, a chain of police officers between the shopping center and the square became more dense. A corridor appeared in the crowd, according to which people can go from the shopping center towards the metro, but they did not let it go to the cemetery. A girl of about 20 years, several times asked a policeman with a megaphone to let her go to the toilet to the shopping center. After the next refusal, she burst into tears and on emotions she hit her palm on the megaphone in the hand of the policeman, screaming at him: “The moron!” Another policeman grabbed her by the sleeve of his jacket, but the first ordered: "Let go." The girl was released.

Two young people nearby began to discuss this:

- It would be drawn for five years. They have some very special installation today.

- The cameras, then they will find it.

- Doesn't matter. What team they give, so they behave. They said one thing - and they were ceremonies, they said another - and here's how dandelions.

In the square made another impromptu memorial from snow, also overlapping it with flowers. 20-year-old Ulyana with a bouquet of yellow daisies in her hands to the question why she came here today, answered:

- I want to lay flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny and find support among people who also came here. There are so many of them, it cannot but rejoice. This is a strong moral rise. It is a pity that it doesn’t work to reach the cemetery, but the spirit that reigns here does something amazing.

Officially, the Borisov cemetery operates until 17 hours, but due to the large number of people who want to say goodbye to Alexei Navalny, the police and the staff of the cemetery several times extended the working hours and made it possible to approach the grave as many people as possible.

People did not disperse until late at night, continuing to stand in line, organizing spontaneous memorials, communicating with each other and chanting political slogans: “We are Russia!”, “This is not death - this is a murder!” And "Navalny Hero of Russia!"

“Initially, I was not going to go - it was scary,” says Ulyana, “but in the morning I realized that I would be very sorry if I did not come.” Now I do not regret, it's straight cool. Despite the all-consuming pain, people came here to support each other-this gives the hope that someday we will achieve something together.