MOSCOW — A Russian court sentenced a leading associate of opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 7 1/2 years in prison on extremism-related charges on Wednesday — the latest in a series of lengthy prison terms issued to political opponents of the Kremlin amid the war in Ukraine.
Lilia Chanysheva, 41, was convicted in a closed trial in central Russia's republic of Bashkortostan of "creating an extremist organization" — charges her lawyer denounced as "purely political."
Prosecutors had requested a 12-year sentence, but Chanysheva acknowledged the lesser sentence was still a blow, given charges she denies and regards as a sham.