London: On an icy cold Moscow morning John Geering, Australia’s ambassador to Russia, trudged through the overnight snow to lay carnations at a makeshift memorial for yet another dead critic of Vladimir Putin.

The Solovetsky Stone, located across from the former headquarters of the notorious NKVD and KGB secret police forces, is an official monument dedicated to the prisoners and victims of Communist terror.

Australia’s Ambassador to Russia, John Geering, lays flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny in Moscow.Credit: Australian Embassy, Moscow on X.

Erected after the fall of the Soviet Union, it has taken on greater significance amid Russia’s march towards authoritarianism. The stone was originally from one of Russia’s most feared gulags, or prisoner labour camps, located at the Solovetsky Islands in the Onega Bay of the Russian White Sea.

Geering let the world know of his actions to mark the death of Alexei Navalny, a man who was arguably the most influential remaining critic of Putin, through the embassy’s social media account.

“Australia holds the Russian Government solely responsible for his treatment and death in prison,” the post said, later repeating the message in the local language.

For a department not known for its ability or capacity to act swiftly or decisively, it was a strong and powerful act. A few hours earlier, Putin’s thugs had cleared away the hundreds of flowers placed on the monument by anonymous Russians in tribute to Navalny.

People lay flowers paying the last respect to Alexei Navalny at the monument with the historical Federal Security Service (FSB, Soviet KGB successor) building in the background.Credit: AP

Geering’s gesture, of course, was not just on behalf of Australia and other democracies across the world, but for the everyday Russians who could not dream of doing so without genuine fear of reprisal or punishment. He and the other Australian diplomats in Moscow are provided with protections and immunities that the average Muscovite could only dream about.

By Saturday evening, the monument to the victims of political repression was buried under a pile of flowers. It is doubtful they will see sunrise. Police allowed mourners to approach the stone one by one before demanding they leave immediately. Some, according to reports, were later arrested.