With candles and flowers, thousands pay respects to Russia’s Navalny

With portraits, candles and flowers, thousands of people around the world paid their respects Friday to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after Russia’s prison agency announced he had died in an Arctic penal colony at age 47.

Among Russians living abroad, there was an outpouring of grief. From London to Frankfurt and Belgrade to Buenos Aires, fans of the outspoken Navalny, one of the Kremlin’s fiercest critics, headed to Russian embassies and consulates to express their shock and anger.

In Russia, after initially allowing people in several cities to lay flowers at monuments to victims of Soviet-era repression, police sealed off some of the areas and started making arrests. In St. Petersburg, a group of people waved their mobile phone flashlights at the Memorial to Victims of Political Repression.

The stunning news came less than a month before an election that will give Russian President Vladimir Putin another six years in power. It also brought renewed criticism from world leaders toward the Russian president who has suppressed opposition at home.

Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said Navalny felt unwell after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived, but paramedics failed to revive him, the agency said in a statement.