The Russian Justice on Monday imprisoned the opposition Ksenia Fadeeva, one of the few people close to Alexei Navalni who obtained an elective position, and who now faces twelve years in prison for “extremism.”
A court in Tomsk, in Siberia, decided to imprison Fadeeva, who until now was under house arrest, reported on Telegram the organization of Alexei Navalny, an imprisoned opponent who was sentenced last August to 19 years in prison precisely for “extremism.” The 31-year-old woman was elected a Tomsk city councilor in September 2020, a rare success for the Russian opposition at the time.
“Ksenia is a political prisoner, a deputy of the Municipal Duma (of Tomsk) who won her mandate after an honest fight,” Andrei Fateev, another Navalny ally elected alongside Fadeeva in 2020, wrote on Telegram.
Days before that election, Alexei Navalni was poisoned in Tomsk and transferred in serious condition to Germany for treatment. He was imprisoned upon returning to Russia in January 2021. His movement was later declared “extremist” and banned, leading many of his collaborators to flee the country to avoid prosecution, but Ksenia Fadeeva decided to stay.
She was arrested in December 2021, accused of having organized an “extremist” group, and was under house arrest awaiting her trial, which began in mid-August. According to the specialized NGO OVD-Info, almost 20,000 Russians have been detained since the start of the war in Ukraine for protesting against the Kremlin’s policies. Almost all the major opponents are behind bars or in exile.