A Russian court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a hearing held in absentia as part of a broader Kremlin crackdown on the opposition.
Yulia Navalnaya, who lives abroad, would risk arrest if she returned to Russia.
The Basmanny District Court of Moscow has ruled to arrest M.me Navalnaya for alleged involvement in an extremist group.
Her late husband, who was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main political enemy, died in an Arctic penal colony in February.
He was serving a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges that he condemned as politically motivated. Authorities said he fell ill after a walk, but gave no details about Mr Navalny’s death.
The man was jailed after returning to Moscow in January 2021 from Germany, where he was recovering from the 2020 nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin.
Mme Navalnaya has blamed Vladimir Putin for her husband’s death and vowed to continue her activities. Russian officials have vehemently denied any involvement in Mr Navalny’s poisoning and death.
Mme Navalnaya mocked the court order on social media platform X, saying it was Vladimir Putin who should be prosecuted. Her spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, described the court’s decision as recognition of her “merits.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed on X that Mme Navalnaya is carrying on her husband’s legacy and has denounced the Moscow court’s decision as “an arrest warrant against the desire for freedom and democracy.”
Russian authorities have not specified the charges against Mr.me Navalnaya. They appear to be linked to authorities designating the Navalny Foundation for Combating Corruption as an extremist organization. The 2021 court ruling that banned Mr. Navalny’s group forced his close associates and members of his team to leave Russia.
A number of journalists have been jailed on similar charges in recent months over their coverage of Mr Navalny.
The Kremlin’s crackdown on opposition activists, independent journalists and ordinary Russians who criticize it intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.