As thousands of people witness Alexei Navalny’s burial in Moscow amid a significant police presence,.
At opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s burial in Moscow on Friday, hundreds of people bid farewell to him under a heavy police presence. Navalny passed away two weeks ago in an Arctic prison colony for an undetermined reason.
Following a brief Russian Orthodox ceremony, Navalny was laid to rest in a cemetery on the snow-covered outskirts of the capital’s southeast. Vast crowds gathered outside the church before pouring flowers and chanting anti-government slogans over the new tomb of President Vladimir Putin’s most vociferous opponent.
No detentions were recorded despite riot police setting up barricades at the church and cemetery. Following the announcement of his death on February 16, hundreds of people attempted to lay flowers at spontaneous tributes but were detained by authorities in Russian towns.
Admiringly thanking him for “26 years of pure happiness,” Navalny’s widow, Yulia, vowed to carry on her husband’s work even if she was not present at the funeral.
She posted
on Instagram, “I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to do it in a way that you up there are pleased for me and proud of me.”
After a legal battle to have his body released, there was a funeral. According to his team, the burial for the man who spearheaded large-scale rallies and waged a campaign against government corruption was turned down by a number of churches in Moscow. The Russian leader was accused of causing the death by a number of Western politicians, a charge that the Kremlin fiercely denied.
Eventually, Navalny’s crew received approval from the crowd-control barrier-enclosed Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, Soothe My Sorrows.
The mourners outside the church respectfully applauded as his casket was carried from the hearse and entered the building. They then began to chant, “Navalny! Navalny!” “You weren’t terrified; neither are we!” yelled some others. Afterwards, “No to war!” “Russia without Putin!” and “Russia shall be liberated!”
Workers of ceremonial services removed a coffin with the remains of late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny on March 1 from the Soothe My Sorrows church in Moscow, Russia, following a burial and farewell ceremony. Reuters/Stringer photo.
Among the grieving were Western officials, such as U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy. Boris Nadezhdin and Yekaterina Duntsova, two anti-war MPs who were denied ballot access and intended to challenge Putin in this month’s presidential election, also paid their respects.
Navalny’s open coffin inside the cathedral revealed him draped in red and white roses. Anatoly and Lyudmila, his parents, were seated next to it.
The closest friends and family of Navalny are not from Russia, and they provided emotional commentary during the livestreamed burial on his YouTube site.
A mourner outside the church named Nadezhda Ivanova of Kaliningrad remarked, “Those people who follow what is happening, it is of course evident to them that this man is a hero of our country, whom we will not forget.” “It is really hard to accept and get past what was done to him.”
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, advised anyone assembling in Moscow and other locations to observe the law, stating that any “unauthorized (mass) gatherings” are illegal.
Following the brief church ceremony, thousands of people marched to the neighboring Borisovskoye Cemetery, where police were also present in large numbers.
Navalny’s parents caressed and planted a kiss on his head when the coffin was opened once more. At the cemetery’s entrance, a sizable group of people gathered and chanted, “Let us in to say farewell!”
They dropped the coffin on the earth. Music from “The Terminator 2,” which his pals claimed he thought was “the best in the world,” was played, in keeping with his irreverent sense of humor.
While a sizable crowd waited at the cemetery’s entrance, mourners poured dirt onto the coffin as they passed his open grave. Lyudmila Navalnaya watched as laborers shoveled earth into the grave as evening approached. Beside it was a pile of flowers, candles, wreaths for funerals, and a picture of Navalny.
After her son’s death on February 16 at Penal Colony No. 3 in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region, approximately 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, she had spent eight days attempting to get officials to release his body.
On March 1, during the funeral of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, people were seen making their way towards the Borisovskoye cemetery. Reuters/Stringer photo
Ivan Zhdanov, a close associate of Navalny’s and the director of his Anti-Corruption Foundation, claims that even on Friday, a Moscow morgue took its time releasing the body.
At first, officials close to the prison colony claimed they were unable to release the body because post-mortem examinations were necessary. In a video message to Putin, Lyudmila Navalnaya begged for its release so she might bury her son in a respectable manner.
Russian officials have yet to reveal Navalny’s 47-year-old cause of death. His team mentioned documents Lyudmila Navalnaya viewed, which said “natural causes,” even though he had joked with court officials the day before he passed away.
According to his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, on social media, at least one funeral director claimed he had been “forbidden” to collaborate with Navalny’s supporters. They had trouble locating a hearse as well.
Yarmysh claimed on Thursday that “unknown individuals are contacting people and threatening them not to transfer Alexei’s body anywhere.”
Since returning to Moscow in January 2021 to face an imminent arrest following his recuperation in Germany from nerve agent poisoning, which he attributed to the Kremlin, Navalny has been detained. In the same year, the Russian government labeled his Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his regional offices as “extremist organizations.”
Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin were allegedly attempting to prevent a public funeral, according to Yulia Navalnaya.
On X, the website that was once known as Twitter, she said, “We don’t want any special treatment—just to allow people the opportunity to say farewell to Alexei in a normal way.”
According to former presidential candidate Dmitry Duntsova, Moscow authorities denied permission for a separate memorial service for Navalny and deceased opposition leader Boris Nemtsov on Friday, citing COVID-19 restrictions. On the evening of February 27, 2015, Nemtsov, a 55-year-old former deputy prime minister, was shot and killed while crossing a bridge close to the Kremlin.
Yarmysh also called on Navalny’s followers everywhere to show up.
At a gathering called by those who had left Russia since the beginning of the conflict with Ukraine, hundreds of people showed up with flowers and candles at the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi. A group from the Italian Radical Party visited Moscow’s embassy for the Kremlin critic in a soggy Rome.
Yarmysh remarked on Thursday, “Everyone who knew Alexei says what a joyful, courageous, and honest person he was.” The bigger reality, though, is that you were aware of Alexei’s characteristics even if you had never met him.
You attended rallies with him, you read his posts from prison, and you participated in his investigations together. He set a good example for many, showing them what to do in dangerous and challenging situations.
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For over 25 years, baseball enthusiasts in the Philadelphia area regarded dollar hot dog night as one of the greatest in-stadium promotions; nevertheless, the team has since determined it was the worst.
The dog days of April are quickly approaching, when the weather in Philadelphia is chilly and wieners are extremely affordable.
On Thursday, the Phillies formally terminated the well-liked campaign and substituted the $1 dogs with a 2-for-1 offer at two games in April at Citizens Bank Park, effective on certain dates.
The decision was made “based on the organization’s continuous commitment to deliver a good experience for all fans in attendance,” according to a team statement.
What aspects of Dollar Dog Nights weren’t good?
During a game last year, some rowdy Phillies fans brandished projectile frankfurters and started tossing their favorite Hatfield meat, sending the dogs flying like corn cans across the stadium and into the field. In addition, the demand for the cheap dogs caused the concourse’s lanes, if not its arteries, to become congested, raising worries about safety and security.
Snowballs—who needs them?
Last season, on April 11, a game, several ejections, and a food battle broke out between mostly amicable fans who threw their ballpark franks in various sections of the stadium.
According to John Weber, executive vice president of Phillies ticket operations and projects, “it wasn’t just the throwing.” “It’s the concourse, where everyone is gathered at the same X number of stands.” However, it’s clear that the throwing was kind of a tipping point.
To be honest, the Phillies can draw large crowds without necessarily lowering ticket costs these days. When the Phillies were still playing at Cavernous Veterans Stadium, they launched the promotion 27 years ago in an attempt to spice up ticket sales on an otherwise dismal game night.
Nevertheless, the Phillies steadfastly adhered to the food-frenzy arrangement over the years, even as they improved to rank among the National League’s top teams. Following a season in which attendance reached 3 million, the Phillies announced three-dollar dog nights for two of their April and one of their May weeknight games, when attendance is typically lower than for weekend games.
“A cheaper concession item and a lot more family-oriented concept—four, five, or six people—were originally proposed,” according to Weber. “Over time, it has shifted to a younger population, which is fantastic as well, particularly in the months of April and May.”
This season’s Phillies BOGO evenings are April 2 vs. the Reds and April 16 vs. the Rockies.
Aramark did not disclose its 2023 revenue figures.
Before the Phillies took on the Houston Astros in the 2022 World Series, the firm announced that one in three spectators at Citizens Bank Park enjoys a hot dog and that an average of 6,951 hot dogs were sold there each game—enough to line Ashburn Alley five times.
For every game they were marked down, the Phillies maintained a running-dollar dog sale total on the scoreboard.
In 2022, the Phillies experienced pushback when they attempted to reduce dog nights from three dollars to two.
Not even among the highest branches of state government were proponents of the unpopular move. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania replied to a critic of the choice made by a writer for the Crossing Broad website on social media, saying, “I agree, more Dollar Dog Nights. @Phillies.” Now let’s get started.
When it was announced that there would be one more dog night, Casey became a hot dog hero.
On Thursday, he chose the high road by saying, “Double (hot dog emoji) sounds like a terrific way to fuel up for #RedOctober” on social media.
On social media, Phillies supporters continued to question the choice.
One clothing store already had a T-shirt with the words “RIP dollar dog night,” regretting the choice by mid-afternoon.Flew Pork. Heads rolled.
“We always want to give our fans the best possible experience,” Weber stated. “It was not a wonderful experience if you were at the game.”
Should you still be partial to inexpensive meats at the ballpark, consider traveling to Pittsburgh, where the Pirates will host a minimum of six $1 hot dog evenings.
The Class-A Wilmington Blue Rocks are only a lengthy relay throw south down I-95, and they have $2 dogs on Wednesdays.
Every Wednesday home game, the Texas Rangers sell dollar dogs, and every Tuesday home game, the Minnesota Twins bake additional buns for their $1 dogs. One team that still sells cheap hot dogs is the Kansas City Royals.
But not in Philadelphia any longer, as a few bad apples have whetted the team’s appetite for a good dog bargain.
“Perhaps on those two April dates that we have, our fans will still come out and see two hot dogs for five dollars as a value and support the team,” Weber stated.
Hey, you can still get free hot dogs in Philadelphia if you simply manage to grab one from the renowned hot dog launcher owned by the Phanatic.
