Three of the five associates of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny who were detained by police in raids across the country on December 28 have been released.
The five former directors of headquarters for Navalny's network of regional campaign groups were detained and interrogated in relation to possibly abusing their official position in the organization of an extremist group, infringing on the rights of citizens, or both.
Each charge, if applied, would carry a possible prison sentence.
Vadim Ostanin, who headed the Navalny movement's office in the southern Siberian city of Barnaul, was released on the morning of December 29 after questioning, according to OVD-Info, a nonprofit that monitors police arrests nationwide. His case relating to possible violations on each count remains open, according to OVD-Info.
Vadim Butakov, who headed Navalny's office in the northwestern city of Arkhangelsk, was reportedly released on December 28 after being questioned in relation to possible crimes relating to participation in the activities of an NGO that infringes on the rights of citizens.
If charged, Butakov could face up to four years in prison.
Andrei Gorodetsky, the regional coordinator in the southwestern Saratov region, was also questioned and released on December 28. He could face charges relating to abuse of his official position to create or participate in an extremist group, which is punishable by prison.
The fate of two others detained on December 28 for questioning -- Zakhar Sarapulov, who headed Navalny's headquarters in the eastern city of Irkutsk, and Ksenia Fadeyeva, coordinator of the office in the southern Siberian city of Tomsk -- are unknown.
Tomsk's TV2 information agency earlier reported that Fadeyeva, a member of Tomsk's city council, was likely to be transferred to Moscow for interrogation by the federal Investigative Committee.
She is reportedly being interrogated on suspicion of abusing her official position and infringing on the rights of citizens.
Sarapulov was being questioned in relation to abuse of his official position and was reportedly being detained for a period of 48 hours.
Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and his political movement were declared extremist organizations by the Russian authorities in June and disbanded.
In November, a criminal case was opened against the head of Team Navalny's Ufa regional office, Lilia Chanysheva, who was charged with the creation and management of an extremist community.
Chanysheva was ordered last week to remain in pretrial detention until April 9, 2022.
Navalny himself has been in prison since February, after he was arrested the month prior upon returning to Russia from Germany, where he had been undergoing treatment for a near-fatal poisoning with a Novichok-type nerve agent that he says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has denied any role in Navalny's poisoning.
Several of the opposition leader and Kremlin critic's associates have been charged with establishing an extremist group. Many of his close associates, including lawyer Lyubov Sobol, have fled the country amid pressure from the Russian authorities.
