MOSCOW â Russia on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, accusing the exiled opposition figure of participating in an âextremist organization.â
A court said it had âapproved the request of the investigators and decided a preventive measure in the form of detention for two months.â
Navalnaya has vowed to continue the work of her husband Alexei Navalny, Russian leader Vladimir Putinâs main opponent who died in an Arctic prison in February.
READ:
Navalnaya slammed the warrant in a statement, Â saying :âVladimir Putin is a killer and a war criminal. He belongs in prisonâ.
The activistâs team also dismissed the allegations.
Navalnaya âwas arrested (in absentia!) for âbeing a member of an extremist communityâ by the infamous Basmanny court of Moscow,â wrote Leonid Volkov, Navalnyâs former chief of staff, on X.
âQuite a recognition of Yuliaâs determination to continue Alexeiâs fight!â he added.
READ:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday also criticized Russiaâs move, calling the arrest order a âwarrant against the desire for freedom and democracyâ in a post on X.
Navalnyâs organizations have been outlawed in Russia, labelled an âextremistâ group and put on an official âterroristâ list.
Navalnaya, an economist, stood by her husband as he galvanized mass protests in Russia, flying him out of the country when he was poisoned before defiantly returning to Moscow with him in 2021, knowing he would be jailed.
Following his death, Navalnaya vowed to take up her late husbandâs work and has lobbied against  Putinâs government from abroad.
During Russian elections in March, Navalnaya called for mass protests against Putin by forming long queues outside voting stations.