Paris is set to name avenue after Russia's Alexei Navalny
Paris will name part of an avenue after Alexei Navalny, the late Russian opposition leader who died under unclear circumstances in an Arctic prison colony, according to the city council.
The Avenue de Pologne in the wealthy 16th district of the capital will have one side -- with odd house numbers -- named "Alexei Navalny", city hall said after a Wednesday's vote, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
It picked the neighborhood because it has traditionally been "that of the Russian diaspora", it said in a statement, adding that the Russian embassy is also located there.
With the move, the French capital seeks to honor "the resistance he embodied against the dictatorship of Vladimir Putin", the Russian president, it said in a statement.
Navalny, who died on February 16, 2024, would not normally be eligible for the honour, which is reserved for people who have been dead for at least five years, according to the city's statutes.
But the city council "can make an exception motivated by the importance of a person's actions or achievements", said the statement.
No inauguration date has been decided yet.
The Kremlin has rejected accusations from Navalny's allies and wife that Putin ordered him killed.
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