Russian President Vladimir Putin, high-level politicians, celebrities, and thousands of Muscovites bid farewell to former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who died at age 83 from complications after undergoing heart surgery in Germany.
The memorial service, held on December 12 in Moscow’s main Orthodox Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior near the Kremlin, attracted throngs of people who paid their respects to the former Communist Party apparatchik who ruled the capital for almost two decades.
After the ceremony, Luzhkov was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow, the resting place of many prominent Russian and Soviet politicians, artists, and other luminaries.
Former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov
Luzhkov, who oversaw the capital's post-Soviet transformation, died in a Munich hospital on December 10.
The cause of death has not been officially announced, but Interfax on December 12 quoted an unnamed source as saying Luzhkov died of a rare complication following a coronary angiogram. The source, described as being in Luzhkov's inner circle, did not elaborate.
Luzhkov took over at City Hall in the Russian capital in 1992 and held the post until being sacked in 2010 by the Kremlin, which said it had lost trust in him.
Despite persistent accusations of kickbacks and corruption allegations, Luzhkov was very popular among Moscow residents.
Luzhkov disappeared from public life after his dismissal until 2016, when Putin awarded him with a state medal for "service to the fatherland."