On Friday, a Russian court ruled an opposition figure in absence and was arrested as Moscow continued to suppress objections.
Leonid Volkov, close vice president of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for criminal charges.
According to Russian news agencies, Moscow's second Western military ruling found Volkov under the age of 40, including terrorism, organizing and financing an extremist group, restoring Nazism and establishing non-governmental organizations that violate civil rights.
In addition to prison sentences, Volkov was fined 2 million rubles (about $25,000) and was banned from using the Internet for 10 years.
“Oh no! They banned me from the internet for 10 years as requested by the prosecutor, but I'm already using it,” Volkov wrote in a mocking social media post after releasing the sentence. “Damn it. What am I going to do?”
Volkov, who was in charge of the Navani regional office and the campaign, left Russia a few years ago under pressure from the authorities. He led Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation between 2021 and 2023, during which time he was placed on the Russian government's list of terrorists and extremists. The case against him is widely regarded as political motive in Russia.
Lev Shlosberg, a senior member of the Yabloko opposition, was each detained on Wednesday and arrested for smearing Russian troops.
A court in the city of Pskov, near the western border of Russia, ordered Slosberg to be detained at home for two months pending investigation and trial, the court's news agency said. His case is also widely believed to be politically motivated.
Russian authorities accused Shlosberg of smearing the country's army by calling for a ceasefire in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Shlosberg said he did not share social media videos or manage the pages he posted. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
The politician repeatedly criticized the war in Moscow, formerly known as “foreign agents” by the Russian authorities, a term with the meaning of Soviet-era betrayal.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has cut all forms of dissent, targeted rights groups, independent media and civil society organizations, LGBTQ+ activists and members of certain religious beliefs.
