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Maya Yang (now); Amy Sedghi and Mabel Banfield-Nwachi (earlier)

Alexei Navalny funeral: multiple mourners detained; crowds in Moscow chant ‘Putin is a murderer’ and ‘Russia without Putin’ – as it happened

Alexei Navalny Ukraine Moscow Russia United States Oleksandr Syrskyi Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelenksyy FSB

Summary

Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

  • Thousands of mourners gathered on Friday for the funeral service of Russia’s most prominent Vladimir Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, in Moscow. Crowds were heard shouting “Navalny, Navalny!” when the hearse carrying his coffin arrived at the Quench My Sorrows church in the Maryino district.

  • Among the large crowd, many people clutched bunches of flowers and some joined in chants – “Russia will be free”, “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “We won’t forgive” and “Putin is a murderer”, reported Reuters. The news agency said that while police were present in large numbers, they did not intervene.

  • Anatoly Navalny and Lyudmila Navalnaya, Alexei’s parents, attended the service but his widow, Yulia, his son, Zakhar, and daughter, Dasha, did not as they live outside Russia for their safety. Navalny’s mother was seen being approached by mourners and supporters who hugged her and said “thank you” as she left the church with her husband.

  • “I don’t know how to live without you,” said Yulia Navalnaya in a goodbye message posted on X to her husband, Alexei. She thanked him for “26 years of absolute happiness” and posted a video of clips showing them together.

  • More than a quarter of a million people watched the farewell to Navalny on his YouTube channel, which is blocked inside Russia. According to Reuters, state media gave scant coverage to the funeral.

  • The Kremlin said on Friday that any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would violate the law. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to give any assessment of Navalny as a political figure and said he had nothing to say to Navalny’s family.

  • Western diplomats, including ambassadors from the US, Germany and France were also present at Navalny’s funeral service on Friday. Flowers, candles and pictures were also laid in memory of Navalny in cities outside Russia, such as in Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, London and Tbilisi.

  • Multiple mourners of Navalny have been detained by Russian authorities on Friday, according to OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights defense group. Videos and pictures posted online by the group showed what appeared to be Russian authorities detaining mourners across multiple cities including Moscow and Novosibirsk.

  • In an Instagram post on Friday, Navalny’s daughter, Dasha Navalnaya, vowed to “live my life the way you taught me, to make you proud.” “I promise you that I will live my life the way you taught me, to make you proud, and most importantly, with the same bright smile on my face,” she said.

  • The European Union has also offered its condolences to Navalny. In a tweet on Friday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote: “EU expresses its condolences to Alexei #Navalny’s family & friends as he is laid to rest. EU Ambassador & other diplomats are paying respects. Navalny’s beliefs will not disappear-ideas cannot be tortured, poisoned or killed. He remains an inspiration for many in Russia & beyond.”

  • The US embassy in Russia issued a statement on Friday on Navalny’s funeral procession, calling the late opposition leader a “shining example of what Russia could and should be.” “His death is a tragic reminder of the lengths the Kremlin will go to silence its critics. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, supporters, & all those he has inspired to work for a brighter future,” the embassy said.

Speaking to CNN, independent Russian journalist Mikhail Fishman called the funeral of Alexei Navalny “one of the most sorrowful but also…an inspiring day.”

Fishman, who knew the late Russian opposition leader, told CNN on Friday:

“This is a very special funeral… It’s a very different funeral because we’re talking now about Putin’s most prominent, important enemy, personal enemy… Despite all the intimidation, despite all the repression that Russia is going through now…thousands and thousands of people gathered to pay tribute and to say goodbye to Navalny and that means that…his hope for a beautiful Russia of the future is not dead. He is, but the hope is not… And that’s why it was sorrowful, as it is inspiring.”

More chants reported from earlier in the day at the Navalny funeral/protest:

“Bring the soldiers home.”

And “Ukrainians are good people.”

The long goodbye to Alexei Navalny.

And the brave crowds.

Navalny's daughter says she will live 'life the way you taught me' in tribute

In an Instagram post on Friday, Alexei Navalny’s daughter, Dasha Navalnaya, vowed to “live my life the way you taught me, to make you proud.”

Google translate reports her post thus:

Dad, you have been an example to many around the world. Your optimism and infectious, sincere smile. Your curiosity and thirst for new knowledge. Your amazing ability to find a common language with everyone. Wit. Sense of humor. Persistence. The ability to choose words at the right moment (or a joke to relax everyone in a difficult situation). Your kindness. Faith in goodness, in yourself, in people.

Since childhood, you taught me to live by principles. Live with dignity. You gave your life for me, for my mother, for Zakhar, for Russia, and I promise you that I will live my life the way you taught me, to make you proud, and most importantly, with the same bright smile on my face.”

Updated

Norway’s ambassador to Russia was among thousands of mourners who attended Alexei Navalny’s funeral on Friday.

In a post on X, the Norwegian foreign ministry called the late Russian opposition leader a “symbol of hope,” adding, “We admire the courage of the many who showed up and present our condolences to family and friends.”

UK foreign secretary says 'world was watching' today

David Cameron, the UK’s former prime minister and current foreign secretary, has also issued a statement on Friday in light of Alexei Navalny’s funeral processions.

Writing on X, Cameron said, “Putin tried to silence Alexei Navalny. But the world was watching.”

He added:

Updated

Here are some images coming through the newswires of the funeral of Alexei Navalny who laid in an open casket on Friday in Moscow as thousands of mourners paid their respects to the late opposition leader:

Multiple Navalny mourners detained across Russia

Multiple mourners of Alexei Navalny have been detained by Russian authorities on Friday, according to OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights defense group.

Videos and pictures posted online by the group showed what appeared to be Russian authorities detaining mourners across multiple cities including Moscow and Novosibirsk:

Updated

European Union: Alexei Navalny's 'beliefs will not disappear'

The European Union has also offered its condolences to Alexei Navalny’s family following the Russian opposition leader’s sudden death earlier this month at a Russian penal colony.

In a tweet on Friday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote:

“EU expresses its condolences to Alexei #Navalny’s family & friends as he is laid to rest. EU Ambassador & other diplomats are paying respects. Navalny’s beliefs will not disappear-ideas cannot be tortured, poisoned or killed. He remains an inspiration for many in Russia & beyond.”

The US embassy in Russia has issued a statement on Friday on Alexei Navalny’s funeral procession, calling the late opposition leader a “shining example of what Russia could and should be.”

“His death is a tragic reminder of the lengths the Kremlin will go to silence its critics. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, supporters, & all those he has inspired to work for a brighter future,” the embassy said.

With over a quarter of a million people watching Alexei Navalny’s funeral procession on his YouTube channel, his allies outside Russia have called on those who are unable to attend the funeral to commemorate his death by going to memorials of Soviet-era repression in their towns at 7pm local time, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, inside Moscow, crowds of supporters threw flowers at Navalny’s hearse as it made its way to the cemetery, according to videos posted on social media.

Summary of the day so far

It has just gone 6pm in Kyiv and 7pm in Moscow. Here are latest updates on Friday:

  • Thousands of mourners gathered on Friday for the funeral service of Russia’s most prominent Putin critic, Alexei Navalny in Moscow. Crowds were heard shouting “Navalny, Navalny!” when the hearse carrying his coffin arrived at the Quench My Sorrows church in the Maryino district.

  • Among the large crowd, many people clutched bunches of flowers and some joined in chants – “Russia will be free”, “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “We won’t forgive” and “Putin is a murderer”, reported Reuters. The news agency said that while police were present in large numbers, they did not intervene.

  • Anatoly Navalny and Lyudmila Navalnay, Alexei’s parents, attended the service but his widow, Yulia, his son, Zakhar, and daughter, Dash, did not as they live outside Russia for their safety. Navalny’s mother was seen being approached by mourners and supporters who hugged her and said “thank you” as she left the church with her husband.

  • “I don’t know how to live without you,” said Yulia Navalnaya in a goodbye message posted on X to her husband, Alexei. She thanked him for “26 years of absolute happiness” and posted a video of clips showing them together.

  • More than a quarter of a million people watched the farewell to Navalny on his YouTube channel, which is blocked inside Russia. According to Reuters, state media gave scant coverage to the funeral.

  • The Kremlin said on Friday that any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would violate the law. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to give any assessment of Navalny as a political figure and said he had nothing to say to Navalny’s family.

  • Western diplomats, including ambassadors from the US, Germany and France were also present at Navalny’s funeral service on Friday. Flowers, candles and pictures were also laid in memory of Navalny in cities outside Russia, such as in Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, London and Tbilisi.

  • The BBC reported that at least two people, including an opposition politician, were detained during and after Navalny’s funeral. The broadcaster cited media reports. Russian authorities have not publicly commented on the issue.

  • Russia is ready to hand over the bodies of the victims of a January military plane crash to Ukraine, the RIA news agency cited Russian human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova as saying on Friday. Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the Ilyushin Il-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region and killing 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers en route to be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, but it has not presented evidence.

  • Ukraine’s president Voldymyr Zelenskiy and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte signed a security guarantee deal on Friday in the north-eastern frontline city of Kharkiv. Zelenskiy said that the document includes €2bn ($2.2bn/£1.7bn) in military aid from the Netherlands this year, as well as further defence assistance over the next 10 years.

  • Three people were killed in a drone attack on a car in the Russia-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russia-installed governor Vladimir Saldo said on Friday. Saldo did not provide any details of the attack.

  • Polish farmers protested on the border with Lithuania on Friday against what they say are imports of Ukrainian grain through the Baltic country, something Vilnius denies.

  • Alexander Stubb hailed a new era in foreign policy as he was inaugurated as Finland’s new president. The 55-year-old former prime minister, who took over from two-term president Sauli Niinistö on Friday, said Finland will do well as a nation if it remains united.

  • Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov was in Turkey, which has sought to revive Russia-Ukraine peace talks and ways to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea. Reports said he would attend part of the annual diplomatic forum in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya where he is to meet Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and foreign minister Hakan Fidan.

  • Russia’s defence ministry said that it had successfully test fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile, state news agency Tass reported.

  • Ukraine exported a record 8m tons of freight, including 5.2 m tonnes of agricultural products, via its Black Sea corridor in February, deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Friday.

  • A Russian man pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally exporting electronics to Russia for possible military use, in violation of sanctions imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said.

Updated

At least two people were detained during and after Navalny's funeral, reports the BBC

The BBC are reporting that at least two people, including an opposition politician, were detained during and after the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s funeral in Moscow on Friday.

Citing media reports, the BBC said several people were also held in the cites of Ekaterinburg and Novosibirsk in central Russia. The BBC added that the Russian authorities have not publicly commented on the reports.

Guardian reporter, Pjotr Sauer has shared this video from Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson Kira Yarmysh.

The video posted on X on Friday, shows large crowds of mourners throwing flowers at the hearse carrying the coffin of Navalny.

Here are some of the latest images on the newswires from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Georgia:

Alexander Stubb hailed a new era in foreign policy as he was inaugurated as Finland’s new president.

The 55-year-old former prime minister, who took over from two-term president Sauli Niinistö on Friday, said Finland will do well as a nation if it remains united.

Stubb, who ran as a candidate for the centre-right National Coalition party, beating Green former foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, said in his inauguration speech:

Thanks to unity, we have had the ability to react at turning points in history in a unified, fast and firm manner. For my part, I want to nurture and strengthen this unity.”

He then shook hands with the government and civil servants, including speaker of the parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, of the far-right Finns party, who came third in the presidential election.

Finland’s now former president, Niinistö, who oversaw Finland’s record speed Nato membership, said:

This country has indeed been built upon certain values. Upon trust in ourselves and in others, upon taking responsibility for ourselves and others, each according to our ability, and upon having a sense of what’s right and wrong.”

He later thanked his nation for its trust:

Ukraine and the Netherlands sign security guarantee deal

Ukraine’s president Voldymyr Zelenskiy and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte signed a security guarantee deal on Friday in the north-eastern frontline city of Kharkiv, reports Reuters.

Zelenskiy said in a social media post on X that the document includes €2bn ($2.2bn/£1.7bn) in military aid from the Netherlands this year, as well as further defence assistance over the next 10 years.

“I am grateful to prime minister Rutte for this agreement, which will strengthen the protection of Ukraine, including the city of Kharkiv, where we met today,” Zelenskiy said.

“According to the document, the Netherlands also supports Ukraine’s future membership in the EU and Nato,” added Zelenskiy.

Updated

Polish farmers protested on the border with Lithuania on Friday against what they say are imports of Ukrainian grain through the Baltic country, something Vilnius denies.

According to Reuters, small groups with banners and Polish flags joined customs officers checking trucks coming over the frontier from Lithuania, but made no attempt to block the Budzisko crossing, which is also used by vehicles carrying goods to and from Latvia and Estonia.

Farmers across Europe have been protesting for weeks against constraints placed on them by EU regulations meant to tackle climate change, as well as rising costs and what they say is unfair competition from outside the EU, particularly Ukraine.

The EU has waived quotas and duties on imports from Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in 2022, angering farmers from neighbouring Poland, Hungary and Slovakia who say it undercuts their prices.

Polish farmers argue that some Ukrainian grain which is brought to Lithuania is later re-exported to other countries as European grain. “Today’s protest is taking place to draw attention to this uncontrolled inflow of grain into the European market, grain coming from Ukraine, from Russia,” protest organiser Karol Pieczynski told Reuters.

Pieczynsk added: “It arrives in Lithuania, Latvia, documents are changed and those products are then distributed throughout Europe as a European product, which says it meets all standards, but it meets no sanitary standards.”

Lithuanian officials denied the accusations. “I think people that are organising such events are mistaken, and this leads us into some escalation and some problems, logistical problems, between European countries, so it’s quite sad,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the head of the Lithuanian national crisis management centre, said.

It wouldn’t make commercial sense to bring Ukrainian grain to Lithuania and then re-export it to other countries, he added.

The agriculture ministers of Poland and Lithuania released a joint statement urging farmers not to block the Budzisko crossing.

Updated

Three dead in drone attack in Kherson region, Russia says

Three people were killed in a drone attack on a car in the Russia-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Reuters reported, citing the Russia-installed governor Vladimir Saldo on Friday.

Saldo did not provide any details of the attack.

Crowds of mourners in Moscow chant 'Russia without Putin' and 'No to war' as quarter of a million people watch Alexei Navalny's funeral on his YouTube channel

Reuters report that many thousands of people turned out to pay their respects at the Borisovskyoe cemetery and outside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow.

Among the large crowd, many people clutched bunches of flowers and some joined in chants – “Russia will be free”, “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “We won’t forgive” and “Putin is a murderer”, reports the news agency. It also said that while police were present in large numbers, they did not intervene.

According to the news agency, more than a quarter of a million people watched the farewell to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on his YouTube channel, which is blocked inside Russia. Messages, mostly expressing sadness but some also defiance, streamed down beside the video, it said.

Navalny’s top aides, all based outside Russia, struggled to contain their emotions as they broadcast live video of the farewell to their leader.

“This is a photograph that is very hard to look at,” said one of them, Ruslan Shaveddinov, referring to an image of Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila inside the church next to her son’s open casket.

In video streamed from the cemetery, Navalny’s mother and father, Anatoly, stooped over his open coffin to kiss him for the last time as a small group of musicians played. Crossing themselves, mourners stepped forward to caress his face before a priest gently placed a white shroud over him and the coffin was closed.

According to Reuters, state media gave scant coverage to the funeral. The RIA news agency reported the fact of Navalny’s burial, noting the presence of foreign envoys including the US, French and German ambassadors, and recalled that he had been jailed on a host of charges including fraud, contempt of court and extremism.

Navalny denied all those charges, saying they had been trumped up by the authorities to silence his criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Updated

Russia’s defence ministry said that it had successfully test fired a Yars intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile, state news agency Tass reported, according to Reuters.

'I don't know how to live without you' – Yulia Navalnaya posts goodbye message to husband Alexei

The widow of Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, posted a goodbye message to her late husband on X.

“Lyosha” is the familiar short form or nickname for Alexei. It is translated from Russian by Google:

Lyosha, thank you for 26 years of absolute happiness. Yes, even over the last three years of happiness. For love, for always supporting me, for making me laugh even from prison, for the fact that you always thought about me.

I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to make you up there happy for me and proud of me. I don’t know if I can handle it or not, but I will try.

We will definitely meet one day. I have so many untold stories for you, and I have so many songs saved for you on my phone, stupid and funny, in general, to be honest, terrible songs, but they are about us, and I really wanted to let you listen to them. And I really wanted to watch you listen to them, laugh, and then hug me.

Love you forever. Rest in peace.

Updated

AFP have the following update on Alexei Navalny’s funeral service and detail on the coffin arriving at Borisovskoye cemetery:

Navalny’s body first lay in an open casket in a packed church in Maryino, southern Moscow, for a ceremony attended by his parents.

The coffin was closed immediately after the service, meaning many mourners who had wanted to file past were not able to pay their last respects at the Mother of God Quench My Sorrows church.

The coffin was then transported to the Borisovskoye cemetery, near the banks of the Moskva river, where several large wreaths were arranged around the grave.

“We won’t forget you!” and “Forgive us!” some mourners shouted as the coffin arrived for burial.

Thousands of mourners gathered in front of a church in Moscow as the funeral service for Russia’s most prominent Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, began.

Crowds were heard shouting “Navalny, Navalny!” when the hearse carrying his coffin arrived at the Quench My Sorrows church in the Maryino district, where the late opposition leader used to live, on Friday.

A long queue formed, under a heavy police presence, near the church where Navalny, who died last month in a notorious “Polar Wolf” penal colony in the Russian Arctic, was being remembered before his burial at a cemetery about a mile and a half away.

Russian authorities claim Navalny fell unconscious and died suddenly aged 47 after a walk. His team and his widow, Yulia, have accused Vladimir Putin of murdering him.

Western diplomats, including ambassadors from the US, Germany and France were also present on Friday. The Kremlin had earlier warned that any unsanctioned gatherings in support of the late Russian opposition would be met with arrests.

Ivan, a Navalny supporter waiting in line, said: “I feel pain, like any other person who came here. I have come to say bye to a real leader. He was the best of us. He told us not to be scared, and it’s our duty to be here. I am not scared. My fear had evaporated a long time ago.”

You can read Pjotr’s full piece here:

Navalny's coffin arrives at Moscow's Borisovskoye cemetery for burial, says ally

Ivan Zhdanov, a top ally of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said that Navalny’s coffin had arrived at Moscow’s Borisovskoye cemetery where he is due to be buried, according to Reuters.

Crowds of people can be seen, via the Alexei Navalny YouTube channel live stream, walking over to the cemetery holding flowers.

Updated

Mourners have left the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God and are now heading over to the Borisovskoye cemetery nearby.

Lyudmila Navalnaya, Alexei Navalny’s mother, was seen on the live stream being approached by mourners and supporters who hugged her and said “thank you” as she left the church with her husband, Anatoly Navalny.

Updated

Hundreds gather for Alexei Navalny funeral amid heavy police presence – video

Supporters of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny formed long queues near the church in Moscow before his funeral on Friday. People chanted “Navalny” as his coffin was carried out of a black hearse on arrival at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God. You can view the video here:

Guardian reporter Pjotr Sauer has been following Alexei Navalny’s funeral in Moscow and will shortly have a report that we can share.

In the meantime, he has shared a video from the independent news outlet Mediazona which shows crowds of people lining the roads outside the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows ahead of Navalny’s funeral service. You can hear the crowds chanting “Navalny” and clapping.

Updated

Alexei Navalny is also being remembered in other locations outside Moscow today. Here are some of the images coming in from Berlin on the newswires:

Updated

Funeral service for Alexei Navalny is under way in Moscow

Ruslan Shaveddinov, an ally of Alexei Navalny, said that the funeral service for the late Russian opposition politician was under way in Moscow, reports Reuters.

Loud chants of “Navalny” rang out as Navalny’s coffin was carried out of a black hearse on arrival at the church, say the news agency. Shouts of “Alexei” could be heard on the YouTube live stream also as well as clapping when the hearse arrived at the church.

Anatoly Navalny and Lyudmila Navalnaya, parents of Alexei Navalny, were pictured walking to the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows on Friday for the funeral service.

Updated

As mentioned previously, the funeral is being live-streamed on the Alexei Navalny YouTube channel. You can follow it in Russian here.

Also, here are a couple more of the latest images from Moscow on the newswires:

Updated

AP have the following update:

Hours before the funeral was set to start, hundreds waited to enter the church under the watch of police who deployed in big numbers. Western diplomats were spotted in the long line.

On livestreamed footage, his coffin could be seen being taken out of the vehicle, with the crowd applauding and chanting in the background: “Navalny! Navalny!”

The funeral is streamed live on Navalny’s YouTube channel, added AP.

Here are a couple of images from the newswires showing the Borisovskoye cemetery in Moscow, where Alexei Navalny is due to buried today:

Updated

Kremlin says any unsanctioned gathering for Navalny will violate the law

The Kremlin said that any unsanctioned gatherings in support of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is to be buried on Friday in Moscow, will violate the law, reports Reuters.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to give any assessment of Navalny as a political figure and said he had nothing to say to Navalny’s family.

“Just a reminder that we have a law that must be followed. Any unauthorised gatherings will be in violation of the law, and those who participate in them will be held accountable – again, in line with the current law,” Kremlin Peskov said.

Navalny died suddenly on 16 February in an Arctic penal colony where he was serving sentences totalling more than 30 years.

A large crowd gathered on Friday near the Moscow church where he is due to be buried, and his supporters have asked people to turn out in his memory in Russian cities in the evening.

Updated

Navalny's team says a hearse carrying the body of the Russian opposition leader is headed to church

Alexei Navalny’s team says a hearse carrying the body of the Russian opposition leader is headed to church for his funeral, reports AP.

Around an hour and a half before the service was due to begin, Navalny’s allies said more than 1,000 people had gathered near Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow to say goodbye to him. Reuters could not independently verify that figure.

Reuters report that tension is high ahead of Navalny’s funeral because the Russian authorities have outlawed his movement as extremist and cast his supporters as US-backed troublemakers out to foment revolution.

Updated

Guardian reporter, Pjotr Sauer has shared a video on X of a long line forming before the entry to the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows where Alexei Navalny’s memorial service will take place.

The video was filmed by Russian reporter Vasiliy Polonsky on Friday morning, about two hours before the funeral.

Updated

Russia ready to hand over crash victims' bodies to Ukraine, official says - Reuters report

Russia is ready to hand over the bodies of the victims of a January military plane crash to Ukraine, the RIA news agency cited Russian human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova as saying on Friday.

Moscow accuses Kyiv of downing the Ilyushin Il-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region and killing 74 people on board, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers en route to be swapped for Russian prisoners of war. It has not presented evidence.

Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that it shot down the plane and has challenged Moscow’s account of who was on board and what happened. Moskalkova said she was in touch with Ukrainian officials regarding the matter of the bodies, reports Reuters.

Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, told Reuters that Ukraine had repeatedly asked for the return of the bodies, and that work continued to achieve that objective.

Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reiterated Kyiv’s call for a transparent investigation into the crash to be conducted with international experts allowed to access the crash site.

Ukraine exports record levels of freight via Black Sea corridor in February

Ukraine exported a record 8m tons of freight, including 5.2 m tonnes of agricultural products, via its Black Sea corridor in February, deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Friday, reports Reuters.

“These are record export indicators not only via the Ukrainian corridor but since the start of [Russia’s] large-scale invasion,” Kubrakov said in a statement.

AFP have some more reporting from on the ground in Moscow, ahead of Alexei Navalny’s funeral today and have spoken to some of the people who are outside the church.

Under grey skies, dozens of mourners were waiting near the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows, in the Maryino district where the service is scheduled to start at 2pm Moscow time (11am GMT), say AFP.

“We just don’t have any more politicians like him,” said Maria, a 55-year-old librarian, adding she was both “afraid and sad”.

“I don’t see anything illegal in coming to say goodbye to a great man,” Maxim, a 43-year-old IT specialist told AFP. Fences had been put up around the church, but the passage was left open, say the news agency.

AFP say, dozens of law enforcement vehicles and some anti-riot police trucks are parked near the cemetery ahead of the ceremony. An AFP journalist also said they had seen police officers holding helmets and teargas canisters patrolling the area, including in the nearby subway stations.

A Russian man pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally exporting electronics to Russia for possible military use, in violation of sanctions imposed after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said.

Maxim Marchenko, who lived in Hong Kong, operated a network with two other unidentified Russians that fraudulently bought large quantities of military-grade microelectronics from US distributors on behalf of Russia-based end users, according to the DoJ.

Arrested in September 2023, the 51-year-old pleaded guilty to smuggling and money laundering in a New York court on Thursday, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Marchenko concealed his scheme to funnel these microelectronics – which had application for use in rifle scopes, night-vision goggles, thermal optics and other weapons systems – by using shell companies and other elaborate money laundering techniques,” said US attorney Damian Williams in a statement from the DoJ. Marchenko will be sentenced on 29 May.

Money laundering carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years while smuggling attracts up to 10 years in prison, the department said.

Assistant attorney general Matthew G Olsen of the justice department’s national security division said the DoJ was “holding accountable those who would enable the Kremlin and its unjust war of aggression against Ukraine.”

Marchenko’s shell companies moved more than $1.6m (£1.3m) to the US between May 2022 and August 2023 to buy the equipment, according to the DoJ.

Mourners start to gather outside Moscow church ahead of Alexei Navalny's funeral

Mourners are starting to gather outside a church in Moscow where opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, is due to be remembered ahead of his burial amid uncertainty about whether police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye.

The memorial service, presided over by a priest and accompanied by choral singing, allows people to walk past the open casket of the deceased to say their farewells.

Two hours before the service, a heavy police presence was visible around the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Soothe My Sorrows in the Maryino district, where Navalny used to live.

There have already been reports of arrests with several Navalny supporters detained as they left their apartments to attend the funeral.

The lead-up to the funeral was marked by controversy. Navalny’s family repeatedly accused the Kremlin of pressuring them into holding a closed ceremony without the public.

His mother was forced to battle for days to retrieve his body for over a week. Investigators tried to blackmail her into holding a quiet funeral in the remote Arctic region where he had died.

Allies on Thursday also said that attempts to hire a hearse to take Navalny’s body to his own funeral had been thwarted by unknown individuals.

After the church memorial service, Navalny will be buried at the Borisovskoye cemetery about 1.5 miles away.

Updated

The Italian embassy’s charge d’affaires in Moscow is set to pay his respects at the funeral of prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny, as confirmed by sources within the foreign ministry on Thursday.

Acting upon directives from foreign minister Antonio Tajani, the charge d’affaires, Pietro Sferra Carini, is slated to attend the ceremony at a church located in Moscow’s Maryno district.

After the death of the Russian opposition leader, Italy’s foreign ministry had summoned Russian ambassador to Italy Alexei Paramonov over the case, citing it was expecting Russia to shed full light on Navalny’s death in prison.

“Russian ambassador Paramonov was summoned to the Farnesina and told of Italy’s expectation that full clarity be provided on the circumstances of the passing of Navalny, who was sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment under harsh conditions for his political activity and his fight against corruption,” read a statement from the Italian foreign ministry.

“In line with other EU partners, Italy, which defends the values of freedom and democracy, will continue to call on Russia to put an end to the unacceptable persecution of political dissent and to guarantee the right to full freedom of expression, without any limitation of civil and political rights,” the statement ended.

Updated

Reuters are reporting heavy security at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God in the Moscow district of Maryino on Friday morning. The news agency say outside the church is surrounded by metal crash barriers with dozens of police vehicles parked nearby.

Navalny’s mother Lyudmila, is expected to attend his funeral, say Reuters, but it is unclear who else will be allowed into the church for the service. Navalny’s wife Yulia, has said she is unsure whether the funeral itself will pass off peacefully or whether police will arrest attenders. She is outside Russia.

According to Reuters, rights group have advised those who want to attend to take their passports and small bottles of water with them and told them to write down the details of lawyers who can help them in case they are detained and the mobile signal in the area is cut.

In the run-up to his funeral, Navalny’s allies accused the Russian authorities of blocking their plans to hold a bigger civil memorial service and said unknown individuals had even managed to thwart their attempts to hire a hearse to transport him to his own funeral.

On Friday, they said they saw no problems for now with the route they had planned for attenders and again encouraged people who wanted to say farewell to Navalny to come along. Reuters report that Navalny’s allies have also promised to livestream the day’s events online.

The Kremlin has said it has nothing to do with Navalny’s funeral arrangements.

Updated

Lavrov visits Turkey as Erdoğan seeks Ukraine peace breakthrough

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov heads today to Turkey which has sought to revive Russia-Ukraine peace talks and ways to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea.

AP report that Lavrov will attend part of the annual diplomatic forum in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya where he is to meet Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and foreign minister Hakan Fidan.

The Russia-Ukraine war will be a key talking point at the forum that runs from Friday to Sunday, though Russia’s top diplomat is to leave on Saturday.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ankara has carefully maintained ties with both sides. “Turkey, along with Hungary, remains one of the last countries in the [Nato] Atlantic Alliance to maintain dialogue with Moscow,” Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Edam thinktank, told AP.

“In a geopolitical context modified by the war, Turkey is careful to keep this role for the future, hoping to capitalise on it during possible peace talks,” he added.

Erdoğan said onWednesday that Turkey wants to revive a 2022 peace effort when top negotiators from the rivals met in Istanbul.

“We are ready to re-establish the negotiating table to build peace like we did in Istanbul previously,” Erdoğan said in a video message played at a summit of southeast European leaders in Tirana this week, at which Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was present.

The Turkish leader also called for a new secure mechanism for Black Sea shipping. “We need an arrangement that guarantees the safe navigation of commercial vessels in the Black Sea,” he said. “To this end, we are continuing our contacts to receive commitments in terms of security,” he added without providing details.

Updated

Here are some of the latest images on the newswires ahead of the funeral of Alexei Navalny in Moscow. The memorial service will be held at 2pm Moscow time (11am GMT) at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, in Maryino. The burial will then take place at the Borisovskoye cemetery at 4pm Moscow time (1pm GMT):

Updated

Opening summary

It has gone 10am in Kyiv and 11am in Moscow. This is our latest Guardian blog covering all the latest developments over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Today, relatives and supporters of Alexei Navalny are bidding farewell to the opposition leader at a funeral in south-eastern Moscow. It comes after a battle with authorities over the release of his body following his still-unexplained death in an Arctic penal colony.

Several Moscow churches refused to hold the service before Navalny’s team got permission from one in the capital’s Maryino district. That is where he once lived in 2020 before his poisoning, treatment in Germany and subsequent arrest on his return to Russia.

The Associated Press report that authorities lined the road from a nearby subway station to the church with crowd control barriers, and riot police were deployed in big numbers early Friday. The Burial is to follow in the nearby Borisovskoye Cemetery.

More on this story in a moment, but first, here are the other latest developments:

  • Russia is ready to hand over to Ukraine the bodies from a military plane crash in January, according to the Russian state-run RIA news agency, which cited human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova. Russia accused Ukraine of shooting down the Ilyushin Il-76 plane in Russia’s Belgorod region and said all 74 on board were killed including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers en route to a prisoner swap.

  • Russia has not presented evidence. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied it shot down the plane, and has challenged Moscow’s account of events, including who and what were on board. Ukraine’s military said Russia failed to warn it of any plane carrying prisoners and the need to temporarily “deconflict” the airspace. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the time accused Moscow of “playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners”.

  • Ukraine’s military said on Thursday it had shot down three more Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers, continuing a string of successes. On Telegram, army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said: “After successful combat operations against an enemy aircraft in the night on Feb 29, two more Russian aircraft were destroyed: Su-34 fighter-bombers in the Avdiivka and Mariupol sectors.”

  • Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from the village of Orlivka, west of Avdiivka, but the situation on the eastern front remains difficult, Syrskyi has said. Orlivka is less than 2km north-west of Lastochkyne, which was recently occupied by Russian forces.

  • Syrskyi said the Russian army was trying to seize the towns and villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Those are places where military officials had said they would form a new line of defence after Ukrainian troops pulled out of Avdiivka on 17 February.

  • In the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces were focusing on retaking Verbove and Robotyne, towns that Ukraine won back in last summer’s counteroffensive in 2023, Syrskyi said.

  • The Russians carried out dozens of shelling attacks on border territories and settlements in Sumy oblast on Thursday, the Ukrainian military said. “Yunakivska, Khotynska, Bilopolska, Vorozhbyanska, Krasnopilska, Velikopysarivska, Shalyginska, Seredino-Budska, Znob-Novgorodska, Druzhbivska communities came under fire.” In one case, in Vorozhbyan, one person was injured and a warehouse caught fire.

  • The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has said the west is attempting to “destroy us” and to “contain our development” in his annual address to parliament. Putin said western countries risked provoking a nuclear war if they sent troops to fight in Ukraine.

  • Nuclear war is a familiar threat raised by the Putin regime and its supporters, and after his speech the US said it did not have any sign Russia was preparing to use such a weapon. “It is not the first time we have seen irresponsible rhetoric from Vladimir Putin. It is no way for the leader of a nuclear-armed state to speak,” said Matthew Miller, state department spokesperson.

  • The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has appointed Volodymyr Karpenko as new commander of Ukraine’s logistics forces, according to a presidential decree. Karpenko, previously logistics commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, replaced Oleh Huliaka, who had held the position since 2021.

  • Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts air national guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents on social media, including information about Ukraine’s air defences, is expected to plead guilty, according to court papers.

  • European defence and foreign ministers would meet in Paris in coming days to discuss further support for Ukraine and Moldova, a French foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

  • Ukraine has identified 511 people suspected of war crimes since Russia’s February 2022 invasion and has already handed down 81 convictions, its prosecutor general said in Kyiv on Thursday. Andriy Kostin was speaking at a war crimes conference alongside the chief prosecutors of Poland, Lithuania and Romania and the president of the EU justice arm, Eurojust.

  • Ukraine planned to export a high volume of electricity on Thursday, taking advantage of lower domestic consumption during a spell of mild weather, the energy ministry said. The country’s electricity exports, which began shortly before it was invaded by Russian troops in 2022, were halted after numerous Russian attacks on power infrastructure and the seizure of the largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

  • A Russian court on Thursday rejected an appeal by a Russian-American woman against her detention on a treason charge. The FSB security service said last week that Ksenia Karelina had been detained on suspicion of raising funds for Ukraine’s armed forces. The Los Angeles resident had been collecting funds for a Ukrainian organisation whose ultimate beneficiary was the Ukrainian army, the FSB said.

  • Sri Lanka has decided to stop issuing free long-term visas to Russian and Ukrainian nationals who have lived there for the past two years, a government official said.

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