By This was CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine.
The funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny took place in Moscow on Friday, with hundreds of mourners gathering despite heightened political tensions and fears of arrests.
Barriers were erected around the church where the memorial service with an open casket began around 2 p.m. local time. The coffin was then taken to the nearly Borisovskoye cemetery across the Moskva River, where the burial service began shortly before 4 p.m.
Crowds chanted: “You were not afraid, and we are not afraid,” outside the church, according to BBC reporting. People were also seen crying, throwing roses, and thanking Navalny’s mother Lyudmila, who attended the service. No clashes or arrests have been reported in Moscow.
The cause of Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16 remains unexplained, but reports say his death certificate states “natural causes.” The longtime critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin was serving a 19-year jail term on charges of extremism.
Navalny’s supporters, his widow Yulia Navalnaya, and world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden have accused Putin of being “responsible” for his death. The Kremlin denies involvement and has slammed any suggestion of it.
Memorials have been scheduled for Friday evening in towns and cities around Russia, as well as abroad. The Kremlin has warned unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would be illegal.
The Netherlands is set to provide 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) worth of military aid this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.
In a post on social media platform X, Zelenskyy said he had met Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Ukrainian city Kharkiv on Friday, where they signed a security agreement. The agreement covers support for the next decade, including air defense and artillery.
The agreement also states that the Netherlands supports Ukraine’s ascension to NATO, Zelenskyy said.
Other European countries, including Germany and Denmark have signed similar agreements with Ukraine in recent weeks.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya has paid tribute to her late husband in a post shared on social media, thanking him for 26 years of “absolute happiness.”
“For love, for always supporting me, for making me laugh even from prison, for the fact that you always thought about me,” she said on the X social media platform, according to a Google translation.
“”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.”
Navalnaya, who lives abroad due to security concerns, did not attend the Moscow funeral service.
— Jenni Reid
Alexei Navalny’s church memorial has concluded, and his coffin was brought to Borisovskoye cemetery, one of the Russian opposition figurehead’s close allies said on Telegram.
“The funeral service went by very quickly. Alexei will now be taken to the cemetery. It makes sense to go there now,” said Ivan Zhdanov, former director of the Navalny-founded Anti-Corruption Foundation, according to a Google translation.
Zhdanov then posted at 3:04 p.m. local time that he had been “brought to the cemetery.”
Borisovskoye is located roughly 2.5 km away across the River Moskva from the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, where the funerary service was held.
Though some of Navalny’s key allies and his wife Yulia Navalnaya remain overseas for fear of persecution, his parents, Anatoliy and Liudmila, were seen entering the church on Friday.
Footage from inside the church has not been shared, with members of Navalny’s team reporting internet connectivity issues earlier in the day.
— Jenni Reid
Mourners have gathered outside the church to observe the funeral of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, as riot police forces work to contain the crowds.
Read the full story, and see the latest pictures, here.
— Sophie Kiderlin
The Kremlin on Friday said it had nothing to say to the family of deceased Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Reuters reported, citing a call between reporters and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov also said that any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny, whose funeral is set to take place Friday, would be against the law.
Heavy police presence is expected in Moscow on Friday as Navalny’s funeral takes place.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Images and videos show crowds gathering near the church where the memorial service for Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is set to take place. Over 1,000 people have gathered so far, according to one of Navalny’s allies, Reuters reported.
A spokesperson for Navalny said in a post on social media platform X that his body had been handed over to his family and would soon be brought to the church on a hearse, after some delays earlier in the day.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the country does not plan to deploy nuclear weapons in space, Russian media agency Tass reported.
In an operational meeting with the Russian security council, Putin said the group had discussed comments from the West about Russia using nuclear weapons, but clarified that they were not at a point of doing so, according to quotes published by Tass.
Concerns about nuclear weapons being launched by Russia have grown in recent days, with Putin on Thursday saying that the West must know Russia possessed weapons that could reach Western countries.
“All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?” he said.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Vyacheslav Gimadi, who was a member of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s legal team, on Friday said mourners should not face “problems,” but offered legal advice to those with questions.
“The funeral of Alexei Navalny is not a rally; those wishing to say goodbye should have no problems. But in any case, there is support,” Gimadi wrote on social platform X, according to a Google translation.
Gimadi linked to a Telegram page where he said consultants and lawyers would be answering questions.
He also shared an infographic showing there would be an approximately 30 minute walk between the Moscow church where a memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. local time, and the cemetery where the burial is due to take place at 4 p.m.
Images and videos shared on social media Friday morning by Navalny allies showed rows of dozens of people gathering outside the church.
— Jenni Reid
Images on Friday morning showed mourners beginning to arrive at a Moscow church in the Maryino district ahead of the memorial service for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which will be held at 2 p.m. local time.
Navalny’s supporters have urged people to attend and said they expect crowds, but warned they do not know whether there will be arrests amid high political tensions.
— Jenni Reid
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from the village of Orlivka, west of Avdiivka, but the situation on the eastern front remains difficult, Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Thursday.
Orlivka is less than 2 kilometres (1-1/2 miles) northwest of Lastochkyne, which was occupied this week by Russian forces.
Russian forces last week captured the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka after a months-long assault and are pressing on other areas along the front line, Ukrainian authorities say.
Ukraine’s military said this week it had withdrawn from two more villages near Avdiivka, losing more territory as support from its Western allies runs short.
“The enemy continues active offensive actions in many areas of the front line. The situation is particularly tense in the Avdiivka and Zaporizhzhia sectors,” Syrskyi said on the Telegram messaging app.
He said Russian assault units were trying to break through the Ukrainian defences and capture the settlements of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka.
Russia’s Defence Ministry, in its daily account of front-line activity, said its forces had secured more advantageous positions in the Avdiivka sector and inflicted losses on Ukrainian units around Orlivka and nearby villages.
Reuters was unable to verify accounts from either side.
— Reuters
Sergey Sokolov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper that has been banned in Russia, was detained in Moscow, the paper said.
He is being accused of “discrediting” the Russian army in an article for the paper, it said, however it is unclear which article exactly.
Novaya Gazeta was blocked in Russia in 2022 and lost its media license in 2023. Most of its journalists have been reporting from outside of Russia since shortly after the war began.
Previous Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Muratov, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, stepped down last year after being deemed a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities. This label is commonly given to Kremlin critics and imposes rules and restrictions on them.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Over 500 people have been suspected of war crimes since Russia’s war with Ukraine began, and 81 have been convicted, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said Thursday during a war crimes conference in Kyiv, Reuters reported.
On the sidelines of the conference, a two-year extension of a joint investigation team, which brings together chief prosecutors from various European countries, Europol and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, was announced by EU justice arm Eurojust.
The group focuses on alleged international crimes in Ukraine, including investigations and prosecutions. The investigations have led to Lithuania announcing suspicions of a war crime against a civilian citizen, who was allegedly tortured and killed while in Ukraine in 2022, Kostin said on social media platform X.
— Sophie Kiderlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s State of Nation address Thursday has covered a variety of topics so far, from Russia’s low birth rate, to the risk of an arms race with the United States, to low incomes and improving relations with the Middle East and Latin America.
Putin proposed to increase child benefits and improve social services to support and encourage Russians to have large families, as well as efforts to increase low incomes and Russian life expectancy.
He also spoke of Russia’s need to strengthen its western military district, signaling an intention to boost troop numbers along the border with new NATO member Finland. Putin said Russia’s armed forces had gained a wealth of military experience from fighting in Ukraine, stating “the combat capabilities of the armed forces have increased manifold.”
“Our units are firmly in possession of the initiative. They are confidently advancing in a number of operational directions, liberating new territories,” he told the audience, made up of lawmakers, officials, religious leaders and journalists.
— Holly Ellyatt
‘I bow deeply to you,’ Putin tells Russian troops; Ukraine says it has shot down more warplanes
