A close associate of top Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny says he has been granted political asylum in Britain.
Vladimir Ashurkov, the executive director of Navalny's anticorruption foundation, told Russian daily Vedomosti on March 31 that he had received asylum last week.
Ashurkov, a former banker, has helped Navalny expose corruption among the Russian elite and worked on Navalny's campaign for Moscow mayor in 2013.
Ashurkov applied for political asylum in Britain in July, after Russia's Investigative Committee issued a warrant for his arrest and accused two other Navalny allies with alleged fraud linked to the financing of the mayoral campaign.
Ashurkov told Vedomosti that his commonlaw wife, Aleksandrina Markvo, had also applied for political asylum in Britain, where she and their two children are now located.
Russian authorities charged Markvo with embezzlement earlier this year.
Navalny denies there was any fraud during his mayoral campaign and has linked the couple's ordeal with his political activities.
