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The government once used the site to contain protest movements by making it the only permitted venue whenever public pressure for a march has forced a response. Mr. Navalny frequently addressed demonstrations there.<\/p>\n
For Olya, 39, the heaps of flowers and candles served as a rare but valuable reminder that she is not alone in wanting a democratic, free Russia without war.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time like this it is so important to see that there are people who think like I do,\u201d she said, as she brought roses to the Wall of Grief. Earlier, she said she had laid flowers at the Solovetsky Stone, another monument to victims of political repression, across from the headquarters of the F.S.B., the successor agency of the K.G.B.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s a shame that in a short period of time, people come and go, and you can\u2019t see all the people who came throughout a day, who are constantly being asked to leave,\u201d she added. \u201cBut you can see flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Protests are effectively banned in Russia, and the arrests the past two days show the extent to which the authorities are ready to go to suppress public displays of anger or mourning.<\/p>\n
\u201cA responsible citizen who loves his homeland, was forced to leave it or is trying to the last not to leave it, has only one weapon \u2014 a memorial candle,\u201d wrote Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based commentator, in an opinion piece he hopes to publish soon, calling them \u201cthe last weapon of a civilized, not savage, person and citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, videos began circulating of men with their faces covered, removing flowers from the Solovetsky Stone, in what was interpreted as a sign the authorities do not want the scale of the outpouring of grief to become public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n