Associate of Russian opposition leader Navalny sentenced to 9 years in prison for ‘extremism’

An associate of Kremlin critic and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday in the latest crackdown against Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Ksenia Fadeeva was previously found guilty in a closed trial of extremism charges and for working in an organization that infringes on the rights of citizens, according to Russian media outlets.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation said Fadeeva will be sent to a Russian penal colony after her sentencing.

“Ksenia did not commit any crime, she is a brave politician who has been fighting against Putin’s corrupt regime,” the organization wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “She has to be free.”

Fadeeva is a city council member in the town of Tomsk, according to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.

She also served as the former head of Navalny’s foundation in Tomsk, which is in the eastern Siberia region.

Her sentencing comes after Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges earlier this year. Navalny was recently transferred to a Russian prison site in Siberia known for its harsh cold.

Other Navalny allies have faced punishment from the Kremlin this year.

Vadim Ostanin, a former campaigner for Navalny, was sentenced to nine years in prison, and another associate, Lilia Chanysheva, was sentenced to more than seven years.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation is known for shining a light on allegations of corruption and abuse of power in Moscow.

The organization has faced suppression from Russia since 2021, when Navalny was arrested upon his return from Germany after a suspected Kremlin poisoning. The foundation has relocated out of Russia and to Lithuania.