Hundreds rallied at the California Capitol in Sacramento Sunday afternoon to commemorate the death of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist, outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and political prisoner who died last year in a prison camp in the Russian Arctic village of Kharp at the age of 47.

The Voices of Russian Opposition in Sacramento, an anti-Putin, pro-democracy coalition of Russians and Russian-Americans that oppose the war in Ukraine, organized the event, joining Russians all over the world — including Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya — in calling for a “free, peaceful” Russia.

Anna Berbeneva, founder of The Voices of Russian Opposition in Sacramento, said the first few months after Navalny’s death were “devastating.”

“A lot of people lost hope,” she said. “It’s like if you got punched in the gut, and you can’t breathe. That’s how it felt for many people ... they were surprised to realize how much he meant to them, because he was such a symbol.”

Berbeneva and her husband, Mikhail Berbenev, joined Sacramento’s growing Russian community in 2015.

Berbenev worked on Navalny’s Moscow mayoral campaign in 2013, and the family moved with their two young children to Sacramento for their own safety after Berbenev was arrested for dissenting the invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Political tensions reached an even further tipping point in 2015 with the assassination of fellow opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

Navalny was “such an amazing, shining, positive, beautiful person who would never, ever give up,” Bebeneva said. “He changed things for so many of us.”

One of the most important things, Berbeneva said, was Navalny’s capacity to educate Russians who were in “an abusive child-parent relationship” with their government.

Navalny taught citizens about civil rights, how to spot propaganda, and how to reach out to elected officials.

“He was one of the first ones who explained what corruption is,” Berbevena said. “Many people thought that certain things were normal, and he explained to people that they’re not. That we pay taxes and that we have the right to demand something from the government.”

Navalny survived an assassination attempt in 2020 before he was arrested in 2021, and was transferred to the maximum security prison in 2023, labeled an extremist, and forced into solitary confinement. Russian prison officials said he died suddenly upon collapsing after a walk on Feb. 16, 2024.

Activists and elected officials, such as former President Joe Biden and Navalnaya, have blamed Putin for his death.

Attendees held signs in support of Navalny, which read “Putin Killed Navalny,” “Kremlin Regime Kills,” and “Freedom for Political Prisoners.”

Berbevena said she wants the people of Sacramento “to know we exist.”

“There is a community of very nice Russian people who are against war, against Putin, who support Ukraine,” she said.

“We want justice. We want people to remember what democracy is.”

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