A Russian court has issued an arrest warrant for Violetta Grudina, the former leader of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's team in the northwestern city of Murmansk, as authorities continue to crack down on those close to the Kremlin critic.
Grudina, who is currently outside of Russia, wrote on Telegram on June 10 that it is unclear what the exact charges against her are, adding that they likely include creating an extremist group, violating coronavirus restrictions, and spreading false information about Russia's armed forces.
In late-December, Russian authorities added Grudina to the registry of wanted people. In January, Grudina told RFE/RL that she fled Russia for an unspecified country.
Last month, a court in Moscow issued arrest warrants for several close associates of Navalny including the former director of his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), Ivan Zhdanov, former FBK lawyers Lyubov Sobol and Vyacheslav Gimadi, and the former coordinator of Navalny's regional network, Leonid Volkov, on charges of creating an extremist group.
Russia's Criminal Code envisages a penalty of up to 12 years in prison for people convicted of such charges.
There were already outstanding arrest warrants for the four activists, who are also currently living outside of Russia, on different charges that they and their supporters have called politically motivated.
The FBK and other groups associated with Navalny, as well as his political movement, were declared "extremist organizations" by Russian authorities in June 2021 and disbanded.
Several of the Kremlin critic's associates were subsequently charged with establishing an extremist group. Many of them have fled the country amid pressure from the Russian authorities.
