“There were two options – either not to write about it at all, or to publish a report that Navalny was buried (with a list of his criminal prosecutions and imposed sentences) and to emphasize that there were foreign ambassadors at the funeral and not to draw attention to the large turnout of people,” described a source from a major Russian media outlet, according to Meduza.
A brief report on Navalny’s funeral was published by the state news agency TASS, which drew attention to the participation of foreign ambassadors. The participation of diplomats was also given considerable space in the report of the RIA Novosti agency. The agency also pointed out that Navalny had been convicted of a number of criminal offences. The Interfax agency did not mention the participation of the ambassadors, its but the report repeats the authorities’ claims about Navalny’s death rather than bringing details from today’s farewell.
Sources from some pro-government media, such as the Vedomosti newspaper or the RBK agency, confided to Meduza journalists that they were not directly prohibited from informing about the funeral, but that at the same time no one in the editorial office let them know that any material from the funeral was planned. RBK thus limited itself to one short message, which included a half-minute video with footage of people who came to say goodbye to the opposition representative. The news about Navalny’s funeral did not appear at all on the Vedomosti newspaper’s website until this evening.
According to Meduza, even federal television channels were silent about Navalny’s funeral. The coverage of the stations První kanal, Rossija-1 and NTV did not record Navalny’s funeral; television stations instead reported on the funeral of former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov.
