Russia on Tuesday added President Vladimir Putin’s jailed vocal critic Alexei Navalny to a list of “terrorists and extremists”, as the country’s authorities and security agencies continue their clampdown on opposition leaders and opponents.
In a database of banned individuals and groups compiled by the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring, the names of Navalny and several of his allies, including key aide Lyubov Sobol, were found on the list.
The recent decision by the Russian authorities puts them in the same group as foreign terrorist organisations including the Taliban and the Islamic State (ISIS).
A crackdown on Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation started last year as it was declared extremist and their activities were banned. Earlier this month, two other key aides of the opposition politician were added to the list.
Speaking to the foreign media from an unknown location, one of the leaders associated with Navalny, who had fled the country during last year’s crackdown, said, “We will fight the regime in Kremlin come what may. The people of Russia want accountability and governance. What we are getting is dictatorship.”
In the past year, Russian security and intelligence agencies have been involved in an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in Russia, including the jailing of President Putin’s top critic Navalny last January and the outlawing of his political organisations.
Navalny, a lawyer, and anti-corruption activist, had been Putin’s most vocal domestic opponent. The leader came into international prominence by organising anti-government demonstrations and running for office to advocate reforms against corruption in Russia, and against President Putin and his government.
Navalny was a Russian Opposition Coordination Council member. He has been behind bars since returning to Moscow in January 2021 from Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning attack with a nerve agent that he blames on the Kremlin.