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Be gone in a Flash Designer Sales at up to 70 are soft gilt. Com today, Vegas Story Of Sensitive Sunday at ten on cnn from london. This is cnn newsroom with max foster and Bianca Nobilo hello, and welcome to our viewers, joining us from the United States and all around the world. Im Bianca Nobilo, live in london, and i want to get to our top story this hour. These are live pictures from outside the church of the icon of the mother of God In Moscow that is where Funeral Ceremonies for russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny are set to begin in less than two hours time. But police are already putting on a show of force not far from there. And navalnys campus is not sure what will happen as we get closer. To the ceremonies. His widow is concerned, people who show up could end up behind bars while his aides say someone whos been trying to sabotage some of the Farewell Events. Cnn has a team of reporters and Analysts Covering all of the latest details of Alexey Navalnys upcoming funeral for you and that includes where we begin, cnn, Sebastian Shaw ucla whos live in berlin for us. Sebastian for an authoritarian regime in russia. This prospect of what could be a very popular moment for people to show their support for Alexey Navalny at the Funeral Ceremonies is potentially a problem for them with that in mind, tell us about the location shouldnt of whether funerals being held and if theres any indication that people are having issues or obstacles trying to get there thats right. Morning. Bianca, weve seen already this morning as our team on the ground has been able to report to us that 200 odd people have already started to come to pay their final respects to Alexei Navalny, who will be buried later today in moscow. But the journey of Alexey Navalny to come from his penal colony in yamalonenets, the northern reach a very Northern Region of russia inside the Arctic Circle to moscow has been one plagued with difficulty Alexei Navalnys mother was denied access to the body. There were accusations of blackmail coming from the authorities. Navalnys team se, and even the debate about and discussions about how the funeral today will take place have been fraught. The authorities have denied the navalnys team the ability to hold a ceremony, not allowing them to book or hall and have even have even not allowed the team to use a hearse to transport Alexei Navalnys body from the church down to the borisov cemetery, which is twoandahalf kilometers away. And well take people roughly 30 minutes to walk on foot but as you mentioned, the Biggest Issue and flashpoint that could come today is around the turnout of people who come to pay their final respects to Alexei Navalny and navalnys team have been at pains to stress whether you knew alexey or not . Whether you met him in person, or whether you learn learn about him and his and his and his ideas through his investigative videos come out and pay your final respects as he is finally laid to rest. And that has been a difficulty that the russian authorities have been trying to grapple with from the moment that he died, bianca we saw people coming out and Laying Flowers at memorials and makeshift vigils across russia. And people were starting to be, to be detained even then, it remains to be seen what could happen today. Bianca . And so following the news of navalnys death there was an outpouring of shock, horror, and grief across the west. And i believe h European Countries have stated that theyre going to apply sanctions. Two, russian judges and members of the Penitentiary System what impact does that likely to have . And is there broader support for sanctions in response to navalnys death from the eu well from, from across the western world that has been broad support for sanctions against the kremlin and President Putin and that has been the case for many years. It even, even going back to the just before or just after ukraine was invaded by its neighbor the huge swaths of sanctions have been targeted against the russian regime to attend, essentially tried to cripple the economy and to make it known that the actions that the kremlin notetaking will be frowned upon. But i think its its poignant to say that look at the moment what were seeing is the United States leading that drive. There was a 500 odd entities and people who were sanctioned last week by the Biden Administration and Yulia Navalnaya, herself, whos taken up the mantle of the opposition, has been going around european governments and was in the European Parliament in strasburg earlier this week advocating for the eu to continue to support Alexei Navalny, take a listen to what she had to say my husband will never see what the beautiful russia of the future will look like. But we must see it. And i will do and di will do my best to make his Dream Come True and to make Alexei Navalnys Dream Come True. Bianca, with the words of Yulia Navalnaya there. And i think it remains to be seen how exactly her platform and how she will take up the mantle of taking on Alexei Navalnys message. But for today, the main focus will be on moscow and finally being 14 days after Alexei Navalny died, finally being able to lay the Opposition Leader to rest, bianca Sebastian Shukla in berlin for us, i know that youve met navalny yourself. So really appreciate your thoughts and your reporting today and nathan hodge former cnn Moscow Bureau chief, joins us. Now in london to discuss this nathan said was indicating that we dont yet have a sense of what this turnout will be today. And also what the level of repression or Police Presence will be. What are you expecting from the time that youve spent in moscow and what youve seen in terms of the shifts since the invasion of ukraine . Well, bianca, i know we know from our experience just for the past two years covering the fallout from the full scale invasion by russia, that the authorities are willing to crack down absolutely ruthlessly on anything that they see as an unsanctioned political demonstration. But i would even go back to nine years ago to the assassination of an Opposition Leader. Also equal prominence but his nemtsov, who was gunned down on a bridge within plain view of the kremlin and there was a massive show of support for him. And even in the years following his assassination, there continued to be marches and in memorial of him and people with very often lay flowers on the bridge at the site of his assassination but the authorities would vary, come, come in very quickly, clean up those memorials, sweep away the flowers. They would be late again. So the authorities have made it very clear and this was at a time of course, when nemtsov was investigating russias covert involvement in propping Up Separatists in a new Eastern Ukraine following the annexation of crimea, that was at the time when he was assassinated. And it was still not officially acknowledged by russia that they were essentially staging this kind of covert invasion, propping Up Separatists in Eastern Ukraine and now the picture has changed ever so dramatically since that point. I was in moscow, both in the runup to and right after the fullscale invasion and i was out on the streets and i saw lots of people being detained, being hauled away for showing up, for instance, outside the Embassy Of Ukraine In Moscow being put on some police buses any kind of demonstration against the war was very quickly cracked down upon. And since then russia has introduced even more Draconian Laws Restricting Freedom Of Speech and essentially outlawed criticism of the military. So anything that would be seen by the authorities as a form of political protest i think will be dealt with quite harshly. And the russian state has an apparatus is unfortunately very experienced in dealing with street protests. Bianca bearing in mind this tightening of draconian laws and crack down subsequent to the invasion. How risky would it be for any muscovites others to attend the ceremonies today . What i think most people who would be coming out would be mindful of the fact you know, that the authorities are not going to take a very positive view of any outpouring of support. Just remember the fact that President Putin himself really, he wouldnt even pronounce navalnys name by contrast, that cool him the gentleman this gentleman that would have been, he used very various formulae to avoid using his name. But by contrast, at nemtsovs funeral, there were government representatives who did show up at the time, not the seniormost, but there were people who were in government who did show up. But i think this shows how marginalized the opposition is. How many of them been hounded out of the country . And its important to remember the big fact here, navalny made the quite bold and courageous move to return to russia after his poisoning, after his treatment in germany, after being poisoned by, by a nerve agent. And returning to russia knowing full well that he would face arrest, that he would likely face a long prison term, which is exactly what happened. But i think that he knew that he would in order to remain relevant and russian politics and not sort of slide into some sort of emigre or Exile Obscurity the only way to remain a player was for hints are returned with the kremlin also be concerned that wants navalny is laid to rest at borisov cemetery. That that might begin to act as a site of memorial or a kind of Central Petal forth for supporters, people who are dissenting. Because often that can happen when people are martyred and pursue to political causes. And this is why this was such an extraordinary sort of tug of war between navalnys family and the government when initially the governments refused to hand over the body and there was talk of having basically a secret burial up in the far north north of the Arctic Circle in a place that would have been absolutely inaccessible for people who wanted to pay their respects or a place that absolutely would have been offlimits to becoming a site of pilgrimage. There so this is why there was this intense behind the scenes tussle to actually have his body turned over an even after that navalnys supporters have said that theyve had obstruction when it comes to doing things like ordering a hearse, finding a suitable place for the memorial finding a burial ground. This has been this has been a constant tussle with the authorities and clearly whether its acting on orders from above or just a general resistance across the board from officialdom theyve been doing everything that they can to stand in the way of having a large public turnout, of having basically allowing this memorial to go forward. So i think clearly this is going to be a confrontational moment that were going to see unfolding in the next few hours. Since Alexey Navalny since the announcement that hed died what have we heard from any russian officials or what is how would you characterize the general . Russian state media reaction and government reaction overall in these last weeks. Well, i mean, its generally been in the case in the past that navalny is just not mentioned in state media. Heat his death was noted by state media, but, you know, were in the runup to russian President Putin being essentially reelected or reanointed into weeks. Theres a president ial election thats happening in two weeks and for putin right now, this is a moment to Show National unity this is a moment when basically most of the mention of navalny is its going to be swept to the side. And i think that this is one of these cases where we had putin coming out yesterday in his address to the federal assembly, essentially his state of the union address. And the message that hes been trying to send is not only to his domestic audience, but to the rest of the world. Is that the russian people . People are 100 behind him that he has the full support of the russian people as a wartime president and so anything that would be running contrary to that message, and i had mentioned earlier, of course, any kind of public criticism of the war can potentially land you in jail anything that i think would be seen as an act of political protest at particularly this time is going to be seen as something that i think generally we have to see what the reaction of the authorities is going to be but i think that they would generally see it as something that crosses the line nathan hodge do stand by for us. Well be speaking later in the show the Funeral Service for russian dissident Alexey Navalny is set to get underway in less than two hours now, were covering all of the angles for you do stay right here with cnn United States of scandal with jake tapper sunday night on cnn, introducing mandel whole Body Deodorant for pits, privates and beyond. Im dr. 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These its like all. Com. We shall do you save Roe Sparks Engineered for the spontaneous a dual action formula with the active ingredients of viagra. And see alice faster acting and longlasting. Grabbed the moment get started at row. Com slash sparks vegas, The Story Of Sin City. Sunday at ten on cnn one less than two hours from the funeral of russian Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny and the crowd of mourners outside the Chart Church In Moscow is growing many of them are holding flowers. Were also seeing a heavy Police Presence ahead of the farewell ceremony. A Major Concerns that rational authorities will crack down on attendees hundreds of people were already arrested at makeshift memorials for navalny in dozens of russian cities, according to a Human Rights Group he was, of course, one of russias most highprofile Opposition Leaders. And spent years criticizing vladimir putin, navalnys death came just weeks before the president ial elections Alexander Baunov is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. He joins us now via skype from florence, italy, great to speak to you again, alexander id like to pick up on that last point about the crackdowns on people people whove wanted to pay their respects or were moralized Alexander Navalny in these preceding weeks, what more can you tell us about that . At first i have many friends who are planning to go despite the risk of clashes with the Police Provocations or simply being labeled or aged some least of unreliable citizens, which is an important risk despite this risk, i have people who are going there to pay their last respects as you told it, as you put it, a position the main Opposition Leader of russia and its important moment for them and how do you think that the risk that is posed to people who do decide to go today because of the draconian laws and crack downs weve been speaking about them earlier in the show what would you expect turn out to be for the funerals . Aleksey navalny i think that authorities will try to allow some people to come after they have allowed the funeral at all but to diminish the number of those presence, so they may allow some people and then well try, well seek to isolate the others who would like to come to because the propaganda seeks to ice the late people from each other, convincing them. I mean, those who are opposing the regime, daughters who would like to support the position to the regime. They are convincing them that they are alone, that they are isolated, their views are marginal, marginal, and they are all enemies of the society as a whole. And such moments as a funeral over main Opposition Leader is a moment when people can see they are not alone. There are not marginal. They are there are basically many to see each other in the ice and thats why In The Beginning the regime was trying to not to allow the funeral at all. To conceal the borger not to give out the body to the family. But finally, decided to allow this now, i expect they attempt to restrict the number of this present alexander how large is this funeral looming for russians today . Obviously, we on cnn, were covering it for hours. The west is paying his lots of attention because of what Alexey Navalny represented and his values given the tight control of the media in russia as well, just give us a sense of what this day will mean for russians on mass got two types of State Run Media. Now, one are old School Official media, but tv channels, state on radios and they wont be any mentioned. This funeral, it all another State Run Media are the propaganda and social Media Channels. So propaganda channels and telegram, owned by pro, pro regime personalities, proregime propagandist. They will blame all those and they have hundreds of thousands of subscribers they will blame all those who are going to come for the funerals is traitors as enemies of the motherland all these usual retiring and theyre of course some remnants of opposition media. Again, in the social media or in immigration. That view a cover. These most important event Public Events related to the Position Activity after the beginning of the war. And this is true because after the beginning of the war, the distinctions became so hard that this is going to be to my appeal indian, the most numerous and the most visible gathering over the opposition supporters in russia in two years how do you give the smaller numbers . But its important as an event absolutely. How do you think Alexey Navalny will be remembered . In russia in the different parts of russian society. What will that legacy be . It depends very much about shelf of russias future. Russias immediate future is not bright for my opinion, but remember for instance, when you all lending in lisbon, you are lending can an airport named after the general lingard with there wasnt a position two leader killed in early 60s by the crater ship. Salazar in early 60s since 1962, if im not mistaken, he was skewed by able to get special authorities on spanish soil. And the dead time it was lake. The story is over. Nothing will happen. He was not he wont be remembered by, by, by the society. But after 12 years, the main airport of the controversy was named after him i mapo, that some like these may happen or russia. Russia is changeable. Russia is not unchangeable. It can change. We have seen 30 years ago how much it can Alexander Baunov. Thank you very much for joining us this morning and the crowds all growing in moscow in front of the church where Alexey Navalnys funeral is due to take place as mourners gathered to pay their respects to the man who dared to challenge that, if putin will be live after the break were here to get your side of the store. Why do we keep ending up here . You cant write this stuff. United states of scandal with Jake Tatler Sunday at nine on see, im sure lay and i lost 75 pounds of gallo. I went from my size 22 sides six before i go low and nothing seemed to work. I was exercising for over an hour every day. 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Navalnys aides say that there have been efforts by unknown individuals to sabotage the services and theyre worried its about what will happen as the day progresses navalnys widow is concerned that people who show up to honor him could be arrested like hundreds of others whove been detained at makeshift memorials in recent days. Lets bring in former cnn Moscow Bureau chief nathan hodge. Shes with me in london and nathan just into cnn, i want to let our viewers know that weve had reports that Alexey Navalnys body has not yet been released, according to a family spokesperson, that spokesperson has tweeted that the body hadnt been released. This is as of ten minutes ago, he wrote on twitter that the relatives arrived at the morgue for 10 00 a. M. Local time so that would be roughly two hours ago. I think then the spokesperson added that there could be delays to some of todays events as a result of the fact that his body hasnt been released. Give us some context so and why officials would be making this difficult. Well, i mean, first of all, this is a continuation and it seems of the saga that weve seen over just unfolding over the past two weeks following on the news of navalnys death and the refusal initially of the authorities at the prison in russias far north to handover the body to his mother. There was what one could only describe as an Incredible Bureaucratic Song And Dance with mother and a lawyer for navalnys theyd going up to the prison. This is an north of the Arctic Circle trying to get the body of her son turned over and this quite shocking discussion about the fact that know that the authority is where were applying pressure according to the opposition to either have a secret burial fail to not hand over the body. So there was an incredible behind the scenes tossle about this. And navalny supporters really called out russian President Putin over this. Basically pointing out the fact that hes always cast himself as a defender of traditional values as, as sort of a religiously observed prevent, and devout person. He makes great public show of going to church hes got the full support of the Russian Orthodox church. Hes, hes forged an important alliance. In fact, that the church, and this is basically in their view. They said, well, this is hypocrisy. How can one be sort of a proponents of trump . Additional values of defending the family this is the theme that putin loves the bang on about. When youre basically standing in the way of allowing people to have their last farewell filename. Yeah, i was going to say that. I mean, its a its an extremely ignoble look for anybody to be interfering at that time. So a family its an hodge. Thank you for your analysis. Do stay very close. Lets bring in cnns Matthew Chance, who is live in moscow. Matthew described to us how things are playing out, where you are, and how all of this has been covered in russia, culminating in todays funeral. Sorry, i lost contact with the shooter then. Can you i dont think we have math. Matthew, where going to see if we can get him back. Well definitely have him on later on in the show, but we can go back to nathan, whos still with us here today than we were just discussing how bizarre really this look is as for the russian government and government officials to be making it difficult for navalnys family to have access to his body at this time. The fact that theyve still done that, just that just mean that they dont feel as its not being reported widely in the Russian Press that thats an issue for them well, i mean, first of all, that, you know, were kind of an Information Bind here is Alexander Baunov said earlier, theres sort of two official russian media. There are the another State Television than there are the sort of thumb pro Kremlin Telegram and social Media Channels obviously, theyve got their own agenda that theyre trying to push. But theres not a complete information blockade and russia, people can, there are ways there are emigre and exiled media there is opposition media, however small and embattled and how however much theyve been exiled. So this this narrative thats being pushed forward, basically that the government officials are essentially standing in the way of people who wants to pay their respects to someone two weeks after their death. This can penetrate it does put the authorities in a bind. How much longer can they put off handing over the body how can they stand in the way . Reasonably of a funeral obviously the concern, as we take a broader picture of whats unfolding here. I know it clearly there is a concern just given the Police Presence there that what could be a funeral can morph into a political funeral, that it could you know, turn into a larger confrontation. Im certain that of course the authorities are prepared to make arrests. Theyve theyve shown absolute willingness to crack down ruthlessly on anything that they see is unauthorized protest nathan hodge, standby for us. Thank you. Lets go now, live to cnns Matthew Chance again in moscow for us matthew just checking the cons. Do you have me . We dont have matthew. Were having a little bit of an issue with our with our feeds that nathan, lets focus on what the future of russias political opposition looks like without Alexey Navalny, weve obviously been hearing a lot justifiably and appropriately from his widow over the last few weeks. Tell us what you expect to see you next. Well, i mean, it is a bleak picture as one expects to see political competition returned to russia. You know, the space for the opposition to exist in his become ever, ever smaller over more than, well now 24 years of putin being in power and independent media have gradually been shuttered and then there was sort of a final curtain coming down and a lot of ways with the full scale invasion of ukraine, with more oppressive, repressive laws being introduced. That crackdown on the independence of the media and created ever less space for there to be any kind of ideas that compete with the official line so in a lot of ways, what were seeing here, i mean, one could sort of metaphorically say this is kind of a funeral for the Russian Opposition inside of russia if youre trying to tease out a bit of symbolism here, but navalny, navalnys supporters, his wife, have made clear that their fight is going to continue. Its going to tinubu inside of russia, not just being marginalized and exile. And thats why weve seen this sort of remarkable emergence just over the past two weeks of Yulia Navalnaya, his widow, basically assuming the mantle of the opposition and stepping in one of the things about navalny was he was seen as he wasnt Charismatic Leader was this sort of single unifying figurehead in a country were basically political competition is just not allowed. President putin is going to be standing in what were calling an election two weeks from now, but its more or less a Ria Anointment and theyre not allowing anyone who lets say, opposed to the fullscale as opposed to the invasion of ukraine who is not essentially a supporter of the kremlin. I think for the kremlin, really the important thing is, is turnout you know, basically showing that you have this plebiscite that says that putin has the mandate, he has the people behind him and a great deal of the population does get its information from state media and therefore, opposition voices just generally are not heard genuine opposition opposition voices. Im not talking about essentially loyal pro kremlin kind of pocket Opposition Parties that are in the parliament. I think that this is this is. A moment where it shows how fractured and how embattled russias opposition has long been and, you know, but the fact that they are able to muster people on the streets, i mean, thousands of russians were arrested just following the fullscale invasion, risking arrest and often being arrested despite the fact that there isnt the middle ms around apparatus of state that is repressive. Just very briefly to you before the break. Other than Alexey Navalnys wife assuming this mantle, is there any obvious successor to him . I mean, i would say that theres no clear sort of navalny in many ways took over. I mentioned earlier, after buddies nemtsov, he was seen as sort of the most prominent leader of the opposition and does the opposition need to have a single Charismatic Leader in order to be effective . Thats, that is in many ways, kind of The Big Question here but i mean, part, part of the problem has been that putin has created this system of vertical power, which doesnt allow for political competition. So it does, it does create a system where you know there is, its very difficult for somebody to step forward because of the risk of arrest or imprisonment. But theres also no clear successor to putin. Its also worth pointing out. I mean, hes going to be in office potentially until another sixyear term until 2030 after, you know, whats inevitably seen as his reelection in two weeks. Whats widely seen as the outcome is a forgone conclusion. But has he begun the process himself of anointing his thats also an important political question for the future of russia. Certainly, nathan hodge do continue to standby. Thank you so much. Supporters are preparing to bid their final goodbyes to russian Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny. But as they get ready for a Funeral Service, police not too far. Well have an update on that were headliner was vegas. Thats what i want to do. Vegas, The Story Of Sin City sunday at ten on cnn lab diamonds, i didnt say in prices to care at three stone rings, 14, 93 karatsev, a terrorist, 29, 95 carat, 49, 91 carat, pink, blue or white studs 599. We beat everyones price on lab diamonds period, the Jewelry Exchange change. Ocd is more than what you see on tv. And in the movies, it comes with unrelenting intrusive images, thoughts, and urges. If you have ocd and need help, you can get better with specialized treatment, go to no cd. 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Its not clear why the spokesperson says that some of todays events could naturally be delayed as a consequence, navalny was the most vocal critic of president vladimir putin. He died mysteriously two weeks ago in siberia, but he was serving a 19 year sentence for various crimes Officials Say he died of natural causes. The kremlin has denied any involvement in navalnys sudden death lets bring back in former cnn Moscow Bureau chief nathan hodge with me here in london. Nathan, before we get onto the broader picture, i think its probably important to address today on the day of the funeral, the circumstances around navalnys death, i mean, even if they were of natural causes, of course is all speculation. We dont know what he was subjected to the longstanding concerns about his health do mean that there is culpability here, regardless. Well, i mean, first of all, anyone whos sort of a longstanding observer of the russian Prison System sees, you know, quite clearly that this is a system that has set up to crush people and this is the point that navalny and his supporters were always making there is a long tradition, and im saying going back, not just to the soviet days, but even if its rs era of using internal exile and imprisonment as a way of quashing any kind of domestic political opposition and navalny was kept in extremely harsh conditions. And this was a man who had recovered from a near fatal poisoning before returning to russia. Now, i mean, we did see pictures of him when he was still alive in the days before in video link court appearances, and he looked he looked healthy. I mean, he looked sort of i mean, he was quite gaunt and clearly he was being held in heart harsh conditions. I mean, but he did manage to you and i think one of his sort of political gifts was that he had a sort of a subversive sense of humor. One that sort of relate some kind of optimism even under the worst kind of circumstances. And he was he was getting messages out and getting messages, for instance, On To Telegram from prison. And he was making fun of the prison conditions. The horrible music that was being blared by patriotic pop songs that were being played over the loudspeaker. When he got up in the morning. But i mean you it is worth pointing out here that we still there are a lot of Unanswered Questions about what the cause of death were. What, you know, what exactly led to his death. I mean, but one thing is certainly clear that the trials, the additional sentences that he was given all pointed to a system that was basically meant to ensure that he stayed behind bars and out of politics for as long as possible. And i can thank you. Do stand by for us. Lets now bring in cnns Matthew Chance live in moscow for us. Matthew described to us how things are evolving, how theyre playing out, where you are, and how it was this is being covered in russia culminating in todays expect a funeral yeah, no well look i, mean, you join me outside the quench my Thirst Church in one of the suburbs of moscow is actually the suburb where Alexey Navalny lived for many years with his family and there are hundreds of people that have so far gathered outside the church. Its where the Funeral Ceremony is. Im planned to be held. Amid a big, tight Security Operation as well. People have come from all over the region. In fact, i spoke to people from some petersburg, from lychee novgorod, From Moscow Have come here to pay their respects. They say because theyre so sad and so distraught about what has happened. Lets give you an idea of the kind of numbers were talking about you can see the line stretching out into the distance. We cant see where the line ends. And so were talking hundreds of people possibly several thousand at this point, its not clear. It difficult to assess. Its also, as i mentioned, a very tight Security Operation and there are Police Lining the tyre root of this queue of people, this line of people. And there are defensive barriers. You crowd control barriers been erected as well to try and control the crowds which are expected to come and pay their respects to Alexey Navalnys late Opposition Leader. Thats sort of not a bad sign in the center. Its that there is a lot of concern about how the authorities are going to respond to this kind of outpouring of support for a prominent opposition figure like Alexei Navalny. Weve seen over the course of the past several weeks since his death two weeks ago, people have been arrested in their hundreds, according to Human Rights Groups, similar i believe, for Laying Flowers at makeshift memorials across the country. And so theres a lot of concern that there could be a very heavy handed approach by the authorities when it comes to this much bigger outpouring of grief for the late Opposition Leader at the moment though, i should say that theres been no sign of trouble that we have seen in terms of the police the crowds that have gathered. Kira yarmysh, who is Alexey Navalnys was Alexey Navalnys spokes woman spokesperson said there is a problem though, and the latest problem is that the body of navalny has not yet been handed over to the team, to the family and so they could mean there are some delays taking place to the Funeral Services that have been planned. The funeral is beds beginning about an afternoon with that good that could slide according to navalnys team, there have been a whole host of obstacles that have been set up by the authorities to delay and disrupt these proceedings. For instance since last night the navalny team said they were unable to get a hearse to book a hearse to take the coffin from the church to the South Cemetery where its going to be finally, when volunteers are finally going to be laid to rest, it was a whole problem getting a church and a Cemetery Books in the first place. No one wanted to take the body of Alexey Navalny. And of course, there was a big delay as well in the handover of the remains of Alexey Navalny to the family, it took the authorities about eight days in order in order for them to do that. And so look, the suspicion and the allegation on the part of the navalny team and the navalny family is the authorities wanted to do everything they could to prevent a mass public funeral like this one taking place because were just a couple of weeks before a president ial election. In this country where vladimir putin, the russian president , is expected to be reappointed in that position for a fifth term of my apologies. And this is exactly the kind of show of support for the opposition that the kremlin wanted to avoid. But they have it. Thats the situation. Now hundreds, if not thousands of people that have gathered outside this church in the suburbs of moscow people coming from All Over The Place that pay their last respects to Alexey Navalny yeah. Income as Matthew Chance for us in moscow, who is on the street outside of the church where the funeral of Alexey Navalny is scheduled to take place later on today. As matthew was saying there are some unforeseen obstacles at the moment. Namely, were hearing from navalnys former spokeswoman that the body has not been released to the families, so we will keep you posted on all of those developments. So crowds are continuing to gather in moscow to bid their final goodbye to Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny that is happening under a watchful eye of russian policed. 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Well, this morning we all following the preparations ahead of the funeral of russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny and Breaking News just now weve heard that his body has been handed over to his relatives according to his former spokeswoman, kira yarmysh, she also tweeted that a hearse will soon be heading over to the church. It had initially been reported by that same spokesperson that the family had been unable to secure the body earlier on today and they hadnt been handed over. We also know as weve been speaking to our analysts and cnn reporters earlier, that there was an issue with the families securing hearse as well. So at the moment, all of those obstacles seem to have been overcome. The late activists made the announcement ahead of the funeral that it was set to begin in a little over an hour. Now, cnn teams on the ground have seen crowds gathering hours ahead of the ceremony gradually growing as well. Weve been speaking to our correspondent, Matthew Chance, who is there. But police are putting on a show of force with videos showing officers deployed on nearby rooftops as well. Navalny spokesperson also said that some of the Farewell Events could be delayed and of course, there is concerned there is concern that those who attend may be arrested or may come under Police Crackdown themselves will be monitoring throughout the day that does it here for this hour of cnn newsroom, im Bianca Nobilo in london. Cnn this morning is next offer quick break with more of this continuing coverage of Alexey Navalnys upcoming funeral were here to get your side of the store. Why do we keep ending up here . You cant write this stuff. United states of scandal with jake tapper on sunday, a nine on every night at the same pain. After dinner, you start soaking, scrubbing, scraping is still top well now you can wake up to a clean Dream Kitchen every day with stole guard Slide On Stove Top protector that stops all the methods or are they started . 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