Former Navalny aide receives 18-year jail sentence
(MENAFN) A Russian court has sentenced Leonid Volkov, a former close aide to the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny, to 18 years in prison in absentia. Volkov faces charges including creating an extremist organization, rehabilitating Nazism, and financing extremist activities.
Volkov joined Navalny’s team in 2013 but has lived in exile since 2019, most recently in Lithuania. In 2021, Russia added him to its international wanted list over allegations of illegally encouraging minors to join unauthorized protests.
Along with the prison term, the court fined Volkov 2 million rubles (about $25,000) and banned him from managing websites for six years. The charges also include politically motivated vandalism and spreading false information about the Russian military.
Responding on social media, Volkov dismissed the ruling as harsh but trivial, noting the small fine and that he remains free to use the internet, which he promised to continue doing actively.
Volkov became head of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in July 2021, shortly after the group was labeled extremist in Russia. In 2022, he was designated a “foreign agent” and added to terrorism and extremism watchlists alongside fellow Navalny associate Ivan Zhdanov, both living abroad. The foreign agent label is applied to individuals accused of aiding foreign entities considered hostile to Russia or funding such activities.
Navalny died in a penal colony in February 2024 while serving a prison sentence that began in 2021. He had received an additional 19-year sentence in 2023 on extremism charges. Russian authorities have since issued arrest warrants for several of his close associates, including his widow, who also reside outside Russia.
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