Putin Attempts to Squash His Biggest Critic

Alexei Navalny, the incarcerated critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday, said he's been hit with new terrorism charges that could keep him in prison for life.

"I'm facing 30 years under this case and life imprisonment under the next one," Navalny, 46, said in a Twitter thread posted by his team.

Navalny has been in jail under major fraud and contempt of court charges since February 2021 and was already expected to remain locked up for approximately 12 years. The opposition leader is perhaps the most well-known Russian critic of Putin, and a film (Navalny) about his near-fatal poisoning in 2020 won the Oscar last month for best documentary feature.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday wrote that RAPSI—a Russian state agency that specializes in the country's judicial system—reported that Navalny and his attorneys have until early May to become acquainted with 195 volumes of court files.

Among the new claims he is facing is a charge that states he is responsible for committing terrorism while locked up in a penal colony located more than 150 miles from Moscow.

Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's spokesperson, explained the new charges Putin's foe faces.

"Navalny used to have one big criminal case for 'extremism,' for which he could face up to 35 years. Recently, however, a separate criminal case of 'terrorism' was separated from it. This means that Navalny will face two big trials," Yarmysh told Newsweek.

She continued, "The first one on 'extremism' will begin, we believe, within a month. And under it, Navalny will now face up to 30 years in prison. The next one, on 'terrorism,' will begin later, and under it, Navalny will face a minimum of 35 years in prison. But since we haven't seen the final charges, the sentence could be even higher, up to life."

Yarmysh said the terrorism case stems from a comment made by Navalny associated Leonid Volkov on his Popular Politics channel on YouTube. The comment, she said, was that Volkov said Putin should be treated as a terrorist.

"If you think this has nothing to do with Navalny, you are right. But the Russian authorities decided that this was enough to fabricate a case against Alexei," she said.

Michael Kimmage, who held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio while on the U.S. State Department's policy planning staff, told Newsweek that Putin enacts a "high level of oppressiveness and vindictiveness toward anybody who's any kind of political threat."

"In a way, Navalny is the biggest of all the political threats that Putin faces," he said.

Kimmage noted that with Navalny, Putin is trying to set an example of what happens to dissenters, similar to how Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in jail last week.

"It's not about subduing Navalny as a person but the public display of how he's been locked up, and how the key has been thrown away," he said.

Though Putin has rarely commented publicly on Navalny, he denied responsibility for the 2020 poisoning and said in a 2021 interview with NBC News that the oppositionist's imprisonment was not his decision. In the same interview, he said he could not guarantee that Navalny would survive prison.

Emma Sky, director of Yale's Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program, told Newsweek that she shares the opinion of many that Navalny is facing trumped-up charges.

"I don't think anyone believes these charges against Navalny," Sky said. "It's a stratagem to keep in behind bars for as long as possible."

Yarmysh said Russian authorities are also attempting to send a message to Navalny's supporters, and those efforts will continue when he returns to court.

"Of course, this accusation is complete madness, but the Kremlin is trying to intimidate Alexei's supporters in this way," she said. "The label 'terrorist' sounds very scary, so they intend to hold an entire trial dedicated to just that in order to demonize Navalny's image."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.