Russians continued to pay tribute to Aleksei Navalny on February 18, laying flowers at ad hoc memorials and defying the authorities, who detained more than 400 people in at least 36 cities at gatherings for the late opposition leader over the past three days.
In the cities of Novosibirsk and Tomsk, authorities cordoned off memorial sites where people were laying flowers and candles to honor Navalny, while police tried to disperse activists from an impromptu Navalny memorial in Voronezh.
Navalny, a longtime anti-corruption fighter and the fiercest political foe of President Vladimir Putin, died in an Arctic prison on February 16. Navalny, 47, fell unconscious and died after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" prison, the prison service said.
He was serving a 19-year sentence on an extremism conviction that he and his supporters say was politically motivated revenge for his anti-Kremlin activism.
SEE ALSO: Aleksei Navalny, Dogged Anti-Corruption Crusader And Outspoken Kremlin Foe, Dies In PrisonOnline news channel Verstka reported that spontaneous memorials to Navalny had appeared in at least 140 cities across Russia.
Russian police detained 401 people across the country on February 17, according to the OVD-Info rights group, which tracks political arrests and provides legal aid.
It marked the largest wave of arrests at political events in Russia since September 2022, when more than 1,300 people were detained at demonstrations against a "partial mobilization" of reservists for Putin's war in Ukraine.
Courts swiftly ordered dozens of those detained on February 16 to serve short jail terms, while several others were fined, officials said late on February 17.
In St. Petersburg, court rulings showed that as of late February 18, at least 154 people in that city alone had been given jail sentences of up to 14 days, AFP reported.
Most arrests were made in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, OVD-Info said, adding that more than 200 people were detained in St. Petersburg by late on February 18.
Among those detained in St. Petersburg was Grigory Mikhnov-Voitenko, a priest of the Apostolic Orthodox Church who called on social media for a memorial service for Navalny. He was charged with organizing a rally, but was later hospitalized with a stroke, OVD-Info reported.
SEE ALSO: What Navalny's Death Could Change -- Or NotIn Moscow, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, on February 18 visited the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to political repression that has become a major site of tributes for Navalny.
"Today at the Solovetsky Stone we mourn the death of Aleksei Navalny and other victims of political repression in Russia," the U.S. Embassy in Moscow said on social media.
"We extend our deepest condolences to Aleksei Navalny's family, colleagues, and supporters. His strength is an inspiring example. We honor his memory," it said.
In a bid to ward off mourners, the Moscow police had set up fences at a separate makeshift memorial known as the Wall of Grief, a bronze monument to Soviet-era repression.
The news outlet SOTA reported that in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian city now under Russian control, residents laid flowers in Navalny's honor at a monument commemorating the victims of the Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
Navalny was seen by many Russians as their best hope for change in their country after years of spiraling state oppression and perceived corruption.
Navalny's family and close associates have confirmed his death in prison and have demanded his body be handed over, but authorities have refused to release it, telling his lawyers and mother that an "investigation" of the causes would only be completed next week.
SEE ALSO: Navalny's Death Confirmed, But Officials Refuse To Release Body Pending 'Investigation'Systema, RFE/RL's Russian investigative unit, has reported that medical care has been repeatedly denied to inmates at the prison where Navalny was being held.
The Russian prison service said doctors rushed to treat Navalny when he lost consciousness on February 16. But court documents and other open-source information examined by RFE/RL reveal that inmates have repeatedly taken legal action to try to receive the care they need.
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Exclusive: Inmates Repeatedly Denied Medical Care At Navalny Prison, Documents Reveal
The Latvian-based independent Russian-language newspaper Novaya.gazeta Europe reported Navalny's body was being held at the district morgue in the northern Siberian town of Salekhard and showed signs of bruises.
"Such injuries appear from convulsions," the publication quoted an unnamed medical worker as saying.
"A person convulses, they try to hold him, and the convulsions can be very strong, so bruises appear." The medical worker said that traces of indirect heart massage were found on his chest, indicating possible efforts to resuscitate him.
The report couldn't be independently verified.
Leaders around the world condemned the death of Putin's staunchest critic, blaming the Russian president directly for the death.
SEE ALSO: Biden Joins Other World Leaders In Blaming Putin For Navalny's DeathYulia Navalnaya, Navalny's widow, is planning to visit Brussels on February 19 to meet with EU foreign ministers, according to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
"EU Ministers will send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia and honour the memory of Aleksei," Borrell wrote on X, formerly Twitter.