Russians mourn Alexei Navalny’s death on 2nd anniversary: ‘He was murdered’

The anniversary coincides with the release of a joint statement by five European countries that said Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a rare and lethal toxin.

Mourners gathered in Moscow Monday to mark two years since the death in custody of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, under the shadow of a Kremlin crackdown and just two days since a new analysis reinforced suspicions that he was killed by poisoning.

Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16, 2024, while serving a 19-year sentence that many believed to be politically motivated. His death at the age of 47 left the Russian opposition leaderless and divided, struggling to build an effective or united front without one of its most visible and charismatic figures.

On the second anniversary of Navalny’s death, we look at the latest investigation into its cause and the continuing political repercussions, both within Russia and beyond.

Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, and his mother-in-law, Alla Abrosimova, were among the mourners laying flowers on his grave. A mound of bouquets rose above the heavy drifts of snow that blanketed Moscow’s Borisovsky Cemetery.

Representatives from several European embassies also paid their respects, watched by a conspicuously high security presence. Later, a small choir gathered to sing by Navalny’s graveside.

Addressing the crowd, Lyudmila Navalnaya restated her belief that her son was killed by the Russian authorities, a scenario which has also been backed by several European countries in recent days. “We knew that our son did not simply die in prison,” she said.

“He was murdered.”

The Kremlin has denied the allegations, saying that Navalny died of natural causes.