Alexei Navalny's spokeswoman said Tuesday that his allies had been unable to find a venue in Russia where people could pay their respects to the opposition leader who died in prison this month.

"Since yesterday we have been looking for a site where we can say farewell to Alexei," Kira Yarmysh wrote on X. "We called round most private and public funeral agencies, commercial sites and funeral halls.

"Some places say the space is busy, some places refuse upon mention of the name 'Navalny.' In one place we were directly told that funeral agencies were prohibited from working with us."