Watch as hundreds gather near cemetery where Alexei Navalny buried

Watch as hundreds of people gather on the side of a main road about a kilometre from the Borisovskoye Cemetery, where Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was buried on Friday 1 March.

The cemetery is now closed for the day, so people who were not able to access it are leaving flowers, candles and messages on mounds of snow nearby.

Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, said ahead of the funeral that she didn’t know if it would be peaceful or if police would arrest those who came to say goodbye.

A heavy police presence was reported at both the Borisovskoye Cemetery and a church in Moscow where the farewell service was held.

Thousands of mourners bravely defied the heavy riot police presence to pay tribute to Navalny.

As his coffin was removed from the hearse and taken inside the church earlier on Friday, the crowd waiting outside broke into respectful applause and also chanted his name.