Hundreds gather across Europe to mourn Navalny, denounce Putin

More than 100 protesters stood outside Russia's London embassy, holding placards that called Putin a war criminal, while hundreds in Lisbon held a silent vigil. Pavel Elizarov, a 28-year-old Russian living in Portugal, said Navalny had been "a symbol of freedom and hope." Near the Russian embassy in Paris, around 100 protesters gathered, with signs that read "Putin murderer".

Hundreds of protesters gathered in cities across Europe and beyond on Friday to express their outrage over the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, chanting slogans critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin whom many blame for the activist's death.

In Berlin, a crowd of 500 to 600 people, according to police estimates, gathered in front of the Russian embassy on the city's Unter den Linden boulevard and chanted "Putin is a killer" in a mixture of Russian, German and English. Some also chanted "Putin to the Hague", referring to the international criminal court investigating possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Police used barriers to close off the road between the embassy and the crowd. "Alexei Navalny is the leader of the Russian opposition and we always kept hope in his name," said a Russian man draped in a blue-and-white anti-war flag.

Giving his name only as Ilia, he said he came to Germany with his wife Nika two years ago and was not expecting to go back in the near future. More than 100 protesters stood outside Russia's London embassy, holding placards that called Putin a war criminal, while hundreds in Lisbon held a silent vigil. Pavel Elizarov, a 28-year-old Russian living in Portugal, said Navalny had been "a symbol of freedom and hope."

Near the Russian embassy in Paris, around 100 protesters gathered, with signs that read "Putin murderer". Natalia Morozov said Navalny had also been a symbol of hope for her. "It's hard for me to express my emotions, because I'm really shaken", said Morozov. "Now we no longer have hope for the beautiful Russia of the future."

Groups also gathered in Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva and The Hague, among others. On the other side of the Atlantic, at a vigil outside the Russian consulate in New York City, Violetta Soboleva said she had volunteered for Navalny's presidential campaign in 2017.

"I really believe that he's the one and he can lead Russia to a better future," said Soboleva, a Russian studying for her doctorate in New York. "And now we've lost this future forever, and there is nothing we can do about it anymore, for right now." Navalny's wife, Yulia, was in Munich on Friday where a vigil also took place. She told the Munich Security Conference she could not be sure her husband was dead because "Putin and his government... lie incessantly" but said that if confirmed Putin should be held accountable.

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