Throughout the day and then at night, dozens of mourners gathered Saturday by a makeshift memorial outside the Russian Consulate, as they grieved the loss of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny.

“We are all devastated because again this is another person killed by Putin, by his direct orders, and we don't know who will be the next,” said Vladimir Ivanov of Midwood, Brooklyn. “This is a big loss for every Russian."

Ivanov said during a family vacation in the Dominican Republic nearly two years ago, he and his wife and children decided to abandon their life in Russia, when they learned of their home country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Roman Artamonov also fled Russia in the wake of the war, uprooting his life and moving his family to Brooklyn, where they now live in Kensington. Artamonov said he was a volunteer with the opposition movement when he first got to work with Navalny, who he greatly admired.

“He was a hero,” Artamonov said. “I met him five years ago. I was working with him and the anti-corruption foundation, and he was a great person. He was poisoned. He was imprisoned many times. He left, and he came back. For me, he is a hero.”

Both men, who held up anti-Putin signs, said they are glad to now live in a country that embraces freedom of speech where they won’t be jailed for opposing the Russian government.

Several people at Saturday’s impromptu vigil also said they would like for Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to help back a movement to place a statue of Navalny outside the Russian consulate.

“We need more,” said Eugene Dimitriev of Manhattan. “We need a monument to honor him, his work and his dedication.”

Several people said they planned to be part of a larger gathering on Sunday, also outside the Russian consulate, starting at 3 p.m.