MOSCOW: Russian authorities have added exiled opposition figure Yulia Navalnaya to the federal list of “terrorists and extremists,” just days after issuing a warrant for her arrest, media reported Thursday.
A Moscow court announced this week that Navalnaya, currently living outside Russia, has been placed in pre-trial detention in absentia for “participating in an extremist organization.”
In 2021, Russian authorities designated Alexei Navalny’s activist network as “extremist,” putting employees, volunteers, and supporters at risk of criminal prosecution, according to The Moscow Times.
Navalnaya, the widow of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, faces up to six years in prison if she returns to or is extradited to Russia.
Following Alexei Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison in February, Navalnaya vowed to continue his work.
Being listed as an “extremist and terrorist” allows Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, to freeze designees’ bank accounts without a court order.
Commenting on the designation, Navalnaya’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh remarked that the swift action by Rosfinmonitoring shows that Navalnaya is “doing everything right.”
“My God, I haven’t checked my phone for an hour. In that hour, I’ve already become a terrorist,” Navalnaya wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Killed the husband, labeled the wife a terrorist — typical Putin.”
