RUSSIAN authorities today searched the homes of three of Alexei Navalny’s lawyers, allies of the jailed Kremlin critic said, amid a crackdown that has intensified since Moscow’s Ukraine assault.  

Navalny, who is Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, mobilised huge anti-government rallies before he was jailed in 2021 on fraud charges that his allies at home and abroad say are punitive.   

Russia in August jailed him for 19 years in a maximum-security prison on extremism charges.  

“All these steps are taken to completely isolate Navalny,” exiled ally Ivan Zhdanov said.  

The searches targeted Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexey Liptser, he said.  

Jailed near Moscow, Navalny communicates with the outside world through his lawyers.  

He will soon be moved to a “special regime” colony – the harshest type of prison reserved for Russia’s worst criminals that will severely limit his contact with lawyers and family.  

Most high-profile activists are in exile or behind bars but cases targeting their lawyers are rather rare.   

Today’s searches were conducted as part of a case for “participating in extremist activities”, the head of the legal department at Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation Vyacheslav Gimadi said.  

Navalny’s political offices were designated “extremist organisations” in 2021, which put employees, volunteers and supporters at risk of prosecution.  

“Lawyers do not engage in politics,” Gimadi said, “they don’t even have the right to refuse protection.” – AFP, October 13, 2023.