"Navalny's death is terrible: hopes have been smashed," Nikitin said.
The West, including U.S. President Joe Biden, blamed President Vladimir Putin for the death.
"Navalny's death is very beneficial to Putin's opponents," said Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser.
WEST 'NOT OUR FRIEND'At "Patriki", or Patriarch's Ponds, the centre of Moscow nightlife, many young Russians revelled away Friday night just hours after news of Navalny's death.
"It is sad of course when anybody dies," Olga Kazakova, a Russian, told Reuters in central Moscow on Saturday.
Persons:
Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW, Alexei Navalny, Navalny, carnations, Vladimir Nikitin, Nikitin, Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, Putin, Navalny's, Africa's Nelson Mandela, Kira Yarmysh, Yulia, Sergei Markov, revelled, Olga Kazakova, Boris Nemtsov, Guy Faulconbridge, Frances Kerry
Organizations:
KGB, Reuters, CIA, DEATH, Munich Security Conference, Putin, Kremlin, Ukraine, WEST
Locations:
Moscow, Russia, Russia's, St Petersburg, Navalny, Avdiivka, West, Ukraine, Kremlin, Basil's