Russia: a priest who delivered a funeral speech for Alexei Navalny was sanctioned

The priest who delivered the eulogy for opponent Alexei Navalny last month will no longer be able to lead services for three years, according to a decree signed by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and recently published on the Moscow Orthodox Church’s website. Patriarchy.

In addition to this ban, priest Dimitry Safronov can no longer “wear a cassock and a cross,” we read in the decree signed by Patriarch Kirill on April 15.

According to this decree, which does not specify the reasons for this sanction, Dmitry Safronov, who previously served in a church in the center of Moscow, will now serve as clerk in another church in the Russian capital.

“The reasons for the ban are not specified in the document (but we clearly understand why),” Navalny’s team wrote in a statement published on Telegram on Tuesday.

According to supporters of Alexei Navalny, Dmitry Safronov delivered this funeral speech on March 26, 40 days after the death of his opponent, according to Orthodox tradition. The service took place in the presence of the opponent’s family and supporters at Moscow’s Borisovo cemetery, where Alexei Navalny is buried.

Silenced Russian opposition

The Kremlin’s main political enemy, Alexei Navalny, died on February 16 under unclear circumstances in an Arctic prison, where he was kept in particularly difficult conditions.

Russian authorities say he died of natural causes, but his opponent’s relatives accuse them of murder.

Repression of dissidents in Russia has increased significantly since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began. Thousands of Russians were arrested for expressing opposition to the offensive, and hundreds of them were sentenced to prison.

Almost all of the main opponents are behind bars or in exile abroad.