Police have raided Alexei Navalny’s apartment and the headquarters of his Anti-Corruption Foundation in Moscow after investigators opened a new inquiry into alleged breaches of coronavirus restrictions during last week’s mass protests.
According to several Russian media outlets, police detained Navalny’s brother Oleg, who previously served a three-and-a-half year prison sentence in what the Kremlin critic called a “hostage” situation. It is not yet clear why he would be detained.
On Wednesday evening police banged at the door of Navalny’s home, and his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, yelled back that her lawyer was on the way. After breaking through the door, police searched the house, according to MBKh Media and RTVI.
At the same time, a close Navalny ally, Lyubov Sobol, demanded that police identify themselves as they prised open the door to a studio that broadcasts Navalny Live.
Investigators searched the offices of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, the team that put out a recent investigation into a £1bn palace allegedly built for Putin’s personal use. Police also raided the homes of Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary, and other aides.
The raids put additional pressure on Navalny as the Kremlin weighs whether or not to risk giving its most stalwart critic the kind of lengthy prison sentence that could turn him into a political martyr.
Navalny already faces three and a half years in prison if a parole board next week chooses to revise a 2014 sentence for embezzlement that Navalny has said was politically motivated. New criminal cases could lead to him receiving another decade or more behind bars. He is due in court on Thursday to appeal against being held in custody until his parole hearing, which is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Navalny’s supporters are expected to rally for a second straight weekend on Sunday. Last week’s protests were some of the country’s largest in the last decade, and scuffles broke out between police and demonstrators in Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities across the country.
Russia’s investigative committee announced the new criminal case for alleged lockdown breaches on Wednesday. The powerful group has also launched an inquiry into alleged calls for underage Russians to join the protests.
Meanwhile the Insider newspaper, in a collaboration with Bellingcat, released new information on the FSB hit squad that allegedly poisoned Navalny with novichok last August, leaving the opposition politician fighting for his life.
Using travel data for FSB agents obtained from an online marketplace, the Insider accused the FSB over the poisoning deaths of a Russian journalist, a civil activist and a local politician, all from Russia’s North Caucasus region. The three men died of unknown causes. The FSB travel records show that members of the unit trailed the men and then travelled to the region shortly before they were found dead.
The journalist, Timur Kushayev, died in August 2014. A fellow journalist said he suspected that Kushayev may have been killed because of his thorough coverage of a trial tied to Islamists accused of seizing the city of Nalchik in 2005.
Ruslan Magomedragimov, an activist, was found dead in a park in 2015 with no signs of violence other than what looked like several pinpricks in his neck. He may have been targeted for his activities supporting greater recognition for Lezgins, an ethnic group.
Nikita Isayev, a prominent political activist and pundit on state television, died of an apparent heart attack on a train in 2019. He was avowedly pro-Kremlin in his public remarks, and the Insider said it was unclear why he was apparently targeted.
