Russia's Interior Ministry has added two more associates of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to the federal wanted list.
The names of Georgy Alburov and Vyacheslav Gimadi appeared on the ministry’s registry on April 26, less than two weeks after another member of Navalny's team, Ruslan Shaveddinov, was placed on the list.
The ministry did not give a reason for adding the activists to the registry, noting only that they were there "due to a criminal case."
Thousands of protesters have been detained for demonstrating in support of the Kremlin critic since he returned from Germany in January 2021 after convalescing following a poison attack that almost killed him. Navalny was arrested upon arrival at the airport and has been behind bars since.
More than half of Navalny's associates and political coordinators, including Alburov and Shaveddinov, have left Russia or been arrested for their activism, with some placed on wanted lists as "terrorists" or "extremists" as the Kremlin cracks down on all forms of dissent in the country.
Journalists who probed the circumstances of Navalny's poisoning and cited his corruption investigations have been branded a "foreign agents."
Last year, the Moscow City Court declared all organizations linked to Navalny as extremist, preventing people associated with Navalny and his network of regional offices across Russia from seeking public office.
The ruling on his organizations also carries possible lengthy prison terms for activists who have worked with them.
Navalny was handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole. His conviction is widely regarded as a trumped-up, politically motivated case.
Navalny has blamed Putin for his poisoning with a Novichok-style chemical substance. The Kremlin has denied any role in the attack.
Last month, a court sentenced Navalny to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzlement and contempt charges that Navalny and his supporters also rejected as politically motivated.
msh/ac
