At his family’s request, there were no speeches at Stanislav’s funeral on Friday, 23 January.

The Ostankino graveyard was filled with a taciturn crowd. Tears and whispers ...  The kiosk sold out of flowers. Those who had come to say a last goodbye had difficulty reaching the coffin: it was surrounded by a tightly-packed ring of TV cameramen and photographers.

“Stas was our only lawyer for criminal cases,” said Irina Bergalieva. She heads an association for those living in dormitories in the capital and the surrounding Moscow Region. “He halted one illegal eviction and six other such decisions were pending. I don’t know who is going to defend us now.”

Each person at the graveside threw a handful of earth into the grave. The grave-diggers hardly had any work left to do at the end.