In Russia, authorities moved swiftly to crush any possible resistance in Alexei Navalny’s name, detaining supporters at memorials and trying to sweep away the flowers they had left, writes our Europe correspondent, Siobhan Robbins.
But beyond their borders, they cannot stop the crowds.
From Georgia to Germany, thousands have gathered for Mr Navalny.
In the shadow of the Russian embassy in Berlin, a steady stream of people arrived to lay flowers below a picture of the 47-year-old activist.
I watched as a group of three Russian friends huddled together to light a candle in the wind.
They were acutely aware their actions were being punished back home, they told me.
“A lot of my friends want to take flowers for Navalny in Moscow but they can’t do that,” Polina said.
“I want to do this for my friends and for me.”
Also among those grieving was Elena, who stood quietly as tears rolled down her face.
“He was the last hope of freedom, of peace in Russia,” she explained.
“I guess there is no hope anymore.”
Like Elena, many said they are not just mourning a man, but what he represented to Russia: hope of resistance and change.
