Mourners arrive for Navalny funeral in Moscow; heavy police presence expected

This is CNBC's live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine.  

The funeral of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is scheduled to take place in Moscow on Friday, with large numbers expected to attend despite heightened political tensions and fears of arrests.

Images on Thursday showed barriers being erected around the church where a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. local time, and the cemetery where the burial is due to take place at 4 p.m. Mourners began to gather Friday morning.

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.

Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh on Thursday urged those in Moscow to attend the event, which is set to be livestreamed on YouTube. Memorial services have been scheduled in other Russian towns and cities for Friday evening.

According to Yarmysh, several funeral agencies, commercial venues and funeral halls refused to host the service. Yarmysh said on social media platform X that "unknown people" had been calling hearse operators to "threaten them" not to transport Navalny's body.

Navalnaya, who is overseas, told European parliamentarians earlier this week she did not know whether the funeral would be peaceful or whether there would be arrests. A heavy policy presence is expected.

Images on Friday morning showed mourners beginning to