Snipers have been positioned on Moscow rooftops ahead of Alexei Navalny’s burial in the Russian capital.

Crowds of mourners had gathered hours in advance of Friday’s ceremony, braving the risk of arrest to pay their respects to the opposition leader amid tight security and fears of a police crackdown.

Riot police were deployed near the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God, in Moscow’s Maryino district, where a ceremony for Mr Navalny was set to take place.

He will be buried at the Borisovskoye cemetery, around 2.5km (1.5 miles) away on the other side of the Moskva River.

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