Russian authorities on Tuesday searched the homes of two former headquarters coordinators of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Russia declared Navalny-affiliated organizations “extremist” in June, forcing his team to shut down a network of regional headquarters that supported its political campaigns and corruption investigations.
Almost all of Navalny’s most visible associates have since left Russia.
Leonid Volkov, who previously ran a network of Navalny regional headquarters, said today that investigators had searched the homes of two former headquarters coordinators, Zahar Sarapulov and Ksenia Fadeyev. They operated in the Irkutsk and Tomsk regions of Siberia.
Volkov, currently living in Lithuania, told the Telegram website that Sarapulova and Fadejeva, a local MP, were later taken to question.
He added that Navalny’s associates had lost contact with another former coordinator in Siberia.
“Ksenia Fadeyev and Zakhar Sarapulov are the best people in Russia – truly patriotic and dignified citizens,” Volkov said.
Ivan Zhdanov, a partner in Navalny, who also left Russia this year, said on Twitter that Fadeyev had been charged with “setting up or participating in an extremist organization while in official office.” If convicted, she could face up to seven to 12 years in prison.
Last month, authorities detained former Navalny Chief of Staff in Bashkortostan, Lily Chanishev, who is facing six to ten years in prison for “setting up an extremist organization”.
Opposition officials say Navalny’s decision to return to Russia after treatment in Germany in January has led to unprecedented crackdown on the opposition, the independent media and advocacy organizations by the Russian authorities.
Navalniy has been in prison since January.
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