Overview
- A Moscow military court convicted Volkov on charges including spreading false information about the Ukraine conflict and justifying terrorism, handing him an 18-year term in a penal colony.
- The verdict imposes a 2-million-rouble fine and curtails his online activity with a 10-year internet ban.
- Volkov has lived in exile in Lithuania since leaving Russia in 2019 and has been on the country’s wanted list since 2021.
- His sentencing follows earlier convictions of Navalny’s associates, including lawyers and journalists, under Russia’s expanded extremism and censorship laws.
- Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation was banned as extremist in 2021 and Russia intensified its suppression of opposition after launching its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.