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Leonid Volkov, who heads A. Navaln’s regional staff network, became an important voice in the opposition when other leading figures in Russia were detained during the protests.
A spokeswoman for a Moscow court told AFP that investigators had called for Volkov to be arrested and that he had been included in the wanted list for several former Soviet countries, but not for Lithuania.
Russia’s investigative committee investigating serious crimes has previously said that Volkov was accused of using social media to encourage minors to participate in unauthorized demonstrations.
In Russia, incitement to demonstrate before persons under 18 years of age is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Volkov has vowed to keep working despite an arrest warrant issued the day after Russia called him and another of Navaln’s comrades “traitors” for asking the European Union to impose sanctions on people close to President Vladimir Putin.
During a video conference with the EU and other Western states on Monday, Volkov called for the introduction of “personal sanctions” on Russian billionaires to force the Kremlin to change its behavior.
Navalnas, 44, Putin’s most famous critic, returned to Russia from Germany on January 17, where he was treated with the nerve-paralyzing substance “Novičiok” created by Soviet scientists after his poisoning in August.
The opposition has blamed Russian special services and President Putin for the poisoning, but Russian authorities have denied the accusations.
Navaln was arrested as soon as he arrived at one of Moscow’s airports, and the move sparked mass demonstrations in many Russian cities for two weekends in a row, during which more than 10,000 people were detained by security forces. persons. Hundreds of them have been sentenced to prison, and several of Navaln’s close associates face criminal charges and are under house arrest.
On February 2, Navaln was sent to prison for nearly three years for violating the terms of a probation sentence imposed in a 2014 money laundering case while receiving treatment in Germany.
EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that he would recommend sanctions on Russia at an EU ministerial meeting later this month.
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