Navalny Supporters Arrested in Russia as World Reacts to His Death

More than 200 supporters of Russia's leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny were arrested as they were gathered to mourn the death of the activist, which was confirmed by Moscow authorities on Friday.

The Russian independent human-rights group OVD-Info said at least 273 people at vigils in honor of Navalny were arrested in over 30 different locations across the country, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Sochi and Belgorod. Newsweek could not immediately verify the count and contacted OVD-Info for comment by email on Saturday morning.

The mass arrests recall the Russian authorities' crackdown on protests that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. More than 1,300 people were arrested for demonstrating against a partial mobilization of reservists called for by President Vladimir Putin.

Videos shared on social media show people crowding makeshift memorials for Navalny in Moscow and St. Petersburg in peaceful tributes disrupted by the police intervention. Footage shows Russian officers aggressively tackling peaceful protesters.

Reuters, who had a reporter on the scene, said that 30 people were arrested during a gathering in St. Petersburg. OVD-Info said the highest numbers of arrests were made in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with respectively 47 and 59 people detained.

Navalny, 47, was possibly the most-prominent figure of the Russian political opposition to Putin's rule. At the time of his death, he was serving a cumulative three-decade sentence for fraud, inciting and financing extremism, and other charges that were widely considered politically motivated.

Russian authorities said that Navalny was taking a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony, where he had recently been moved, when he fell unconscious and died on Friday.

The imprisoned opposition leader's death was confirmed by his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh on Saturday. The post read that Navalny's mother received a formal notice by Russian officials.

Yarmysh said that neither she nor Navalny's mother was able to see his body after going to the morgue in Salekhard, the town near the penal colony where he was imprisoned. "Alexey's body is not in the morgue," Yarmysh wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In another tweet, she wrote: "Alexei Navalny was murdered. We demand that Alexei Navalny's body be handed over to his family immediately."

An employee at the morgue told Reuters that Navalny's body never reached the facility.

World leaders have expressed grief at the activist's death and widely blamed Putin for it. Vice President Kamala Harris, following news of Navalny's death, said: "Let us be clear, Russia is responsible."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters at a joint news conference in Berlin with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz that "it is obvious for me that he [Navalny] was killed."

Zelensky added: "Putin does not care who dies as long as he stays in his position, and this is why he should lose everything. This is why he should lose the war and he should be held accountable for the crimes that were committed on his behalf."

Scholz praised Navalny's work, saying that he "paid for his courage with his life." French President Emmanuel Macron left a tribute on X to Navalny's dedication and courage. "In today's Russia, free spirits are sent to the Gulag and condemned to death. Anger and indignation," he wrote on the social-media platform.

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described Navalny as the "fiercest advocate for Russian democracy," calling his death "terrible news." Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Navalny's death another "warning to the international community."

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, said she was deeply disturbed and saddened by news of Navalny's death. "Putin fears nothing more than dissent from his own people," she wrote on X. "A grim reminder of what Putin and his regime are all about. Let's unite in our fight to safeguard the freedom and safety of those who dare to stand up against autocracy."