Russia put Navalny’s ally Sobol on wanted list

Russian police have declared Lyubov Sobol, a prominent ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, as wanted, according to various media reports, which cited the police’s wanted list.

Russia’s RT and REN TV channels, citing sources, said in early August, that Sobol had left Russia days after she was sentenced to parole-like restrictions amid a crackdown on the opposition.

Commenting on reports that she had been listed as wanted, Sobol, 33, said on social media that the mugshot of her posted by the police must have been taken from the days of a hunger strike in 2019. She did not elaborate.

The police declined to comment.

Sobol is one of the most well-known faces of Navalny’s entourage.

She was sentenced to 1-1/2 years of parole-like restrictions in August for flouting COVID-19 curbs on protests, a charge she called politically-motivated nonsense. The restrictions included not being allowed to leave home at night.

Photo – Russian opposition activist and employee of the Alexei Navalny-led Anti-Corruption Foundation, Lyubov Sobol. EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV