A funeral service for the late Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny will be held on March 1 at a church in the Maryino area of Moscow, where the Kremlin critic once lived, after several days of uncertainty marked by claims by his mother that she was being blackmailed by officials into holding a secret commemoration.
Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on February 28 that, after the service at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, Navalny will be buried at the nearby Borisovskoye cemetery, a short walk from the banks of the Moskva River.
The distance between the church, which has a square out front, and the cemetery is about 2 kilometers. It was not clear whether there would be a procession from one venue to the other, or if supporters would gather at the church or the cemetery.
Navalny's widow, Yulia, said in a speech to the European Parliament on February 28 that she feared security forces will intervene during the event.
"I'm not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or whether the police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to my husband," she said.
The announcement of the services comes a day after Navalny's associates said they were having trouble finding a location for the service, which will take place two weeks after the anti-corruption crusader was pronounced dead by officials at the Arctic prison where he was incarcerated.
Navalny's body was released to his mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, on February 24, more than a week after his suspicious death in prison. The official death certificate said the 47-year-old died of "natural causes." Officials have not commented further.
Before the body was released, Navalnaya said the authorities were setting conditions on where, when, and how her son should be buried.
"They want it to do it secretly without a mourning ceremony," she said, adding that investigators threatened to bury her son at the prison where he died unless she agreed to bury him quietly.
Russian media reports on February 27 said that police briefly detained on unspecified charges Navalny's former lawyer, Vasily Dubkov, who represented his family after his death and accompanied Lyudmila Navalnaya on her trip to the so-called "Polar Wolf" prison to get Navalny's body.
Hundreds of Russians have been arrested as people continued to honor Navalny’s memory at sites across the country.
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Ivan Zhdanov, the former head of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said February 29 was initially chosen as the day for the ceremonies, but that it "quickly became clear" that officials were forcing a different date, likely because President Vladimir Putin is to give a state of the union address that day.
He said Navalny's team was told that people were available to dig the grave on February 28 and March 1, but "not a single person was available" on the day in between.
"The real reason is clear: The Kremlin understands that nobody will listen to Putin and his message on the day of the farewell to Aleksei. We don't care about the message. Aleksei needs to be buried," Zhdanov said.
Zhdanov also said Moscow city authorities were still trying to force Navalny's relatives to move the ceremony to a different location and have a "quiet family funeral." But Zhdanov, in an interview with the Meduza news outlet, said the location would not change, giving everyone who wants to say goodbye to Navalny a chance to do so.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a self-exiled leading Russian opposition figure, said in an interview with RFE/RL last week that a public funeral could trigger “large-scale confrontations” between Navalny supporters and law enforcement.
SEE ALSO: Putin Fears Navalny Funeral Could Trigger Mass Demonstrations, Khodorkovsky SaysNavalny died while serving a 19-year prison term on charges including extremism that he, his supporters, Western officials, and rights watchdogs called politically motivated.
Navalny's relatives, associates, and Western officials have blamed Putin for Navalny's death. Russian officials have said no foul play was involved and called the international outrage over Navalny's death while in prison "hysterical."
Investigative journalist Christo Grozev told RFE/RL on February 27 that there was a plan in the works that included talks among three countries -- the United States, Germany, and Russia -- to exchange Navalny, along with the Americans currently held in Russia, for the convicted murderer and former colonel in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Vadim Krasikov.
Grozev, who said he also took part in the negotiations, said Russia had given its consent, however, he did not know whether Putin personally approved the exchange.
"But that was the last ingredient everybody was waiting for," he told RFE/RL.
"By the time Navalny died -- or as I believe he was killed -- it seemed like a very optimistic scenario that could work in the coming months," Grozev said.
According to Grozev, the fact that Germany agreed to exchange Krasikov was a signal to the Kremlin that it would swap for not-so-high-ranking prisoners being held in Russia, which is why the Russians withdrew.
The calculation on Moscow's part was that it might be possible to get Krasikov released without having to free the Americans -- who were never named but are presumed to be Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan -- along with Navalny.
Maria Pevchikh, the chairwoman of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, has said she received confirmation that negotiations were in the final stage on the evening of February 15. The next day, Navalny was pronounced dead.
Navalnaya has vowed to continue her late husband's fight for a "free Russia."