Russia calls Alexei Navalny allies 'traitors', accuses them of talking sanctions

Russia on Tuesday accused allies of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny of treason, alleging they discussed possible sanctions against Moscow with Western nations. According to reports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday accused Navalny's allies of treachery for discussing sanctions against Russia with foreign governments. After Russia arrested Navalny and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison, the world leaders threatened Russia with sanctions and demanded an immediate release of the Kremlin critic. 

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Russia faces international condemnation 

Navalny was arrested soon after returning from Germany last month following which he was sentenced to serve his remaining suspended jail term in prison. Navalny's arrest sparked nationwide protests with tens of thousands of demonstrators storming the streets of Moscow demanding the opposition politician's release. Russian authorities put thousands of protesters in jail citing violations of COVID-19 precautionary measures. The crackdown on peaceful protesters garnered a lot of international criticism, which has since put Moscow under a lot of pressure. 

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Moscow has been allegedly using this technique to label Navalny's supporters as anti-nationals in order to influence the views of the general public in the country. Navalny was also dubbed a "traitor" while he was away in Germany and was continuing his attack against Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Navalny was in Berlin for treatment, he was warned by the Russian prison authorities to return as quickly as possible or he could face jail time for allegedly violating suspended prison term from 2014 when he was found guilty of financial misappropriations and had already served 10 months of his 3.5 year-sentence under house arrest.

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Navalny was taken to Germany last year in August after he fell ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. German doctors ruled that Navalny was poisoned using Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, which the Russian authorities denied having any knowledge of and dismissed poisoning demanding more evidence. After Navalny woke up from an artificial coma in September, he accused the Russian state and Vladimir Putin of the failed assassination attempt. Navalny even conducted a sting operation from Germany, where he called some FSB officials pretending to be their superior and extracted information about the poisoning.

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