Imprisoned opposition chief Alexei Navalny, alongside together with his brother and eight allies, have been added to Russia's registry of terrorists and extremists by Russian authorities.

Russia, which, in accordance with the Related Press, is cracking down on supporters of the opposition, unbiased media and human rights activists, added Navalny and the others to the registry on January 25.

Together with Navalny, his brother Oleg, prime aides, Lyubov Sobol and Gregory Alburov, Vyacheslav Gimadi, Leonid Volkov, Ivan Zhdanov, Lilia Chanysheva and Ruslan Shaveddinov have been additionally added to the checklist. Volkov and Zhdanov and working Navalny's organizations from exile, in accordance with The Moscow Occasions.

Russia's Federal Monetary Monitoring Service added Navalny and the others to the registry, which requires their financial institution accounts to be frozen, in accordance with Russian regulation.

Navalny was arrested over a yr in the past when he was detained upon his return to Moscow after spending 5 months in Germany recovering from being poisoned, which he has blamed on Russian authorities, who've denied the declare.

Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg have been convicted of fraud in 2014. Oleg Navalny was ordered to serve three and a half years in jail and Alexei Navalny obtained a suspended sentence.

Upon Alexei Navalny's return to Moscow, he was arrested for violating the phrases of his suspended sentence. He obtained a sentence of two and a half years in jail.

Authorities have additionally outlawed Navalny's Basis for Preventing Corruption, in addition to the community of regional workplaces affiliated with Navalny, which have been labeled "extremist."

Based on The Moscow Occasions, 22 folks at the moment are on the terrorist checklist, with 12 of them being linked to Navalny.

RadioFreeEurope reported that journalists who've seemed into Navalny's poisoning and cited his corruption investigations have been branded "international brokers." For activists who work with Navalny's organizations, the ruling may have attainable prolonged jail phrases, in accordance with RadioFreeEurope.

Sobol advised the AP she believes the addition of Navalny, herself and different allies have been a choice made by the Kremlin.

"There's completely little doubt that the choice concerning myself, Navalny and my closest associates and colleagues was made within the Kremlin with private contribution by Vladimir Putin," Sobol mentioned. "I feel he has all issues involving our crew below a particular management, and it is not a choice made by lower-ranked officers."

Protests for Alexei Navalny
Individuals of an unauthorized protest rally in opposition to of jailing of opposition chief Alexei Navalny shout, on January 23, 2021 in Moscow. Earlier this week, Kremlin-critic Alexei Navalny referred to as for supporters to protest after he was remanded to pre-trial detention for 30 days. His arrest got here someday after his return to Russia, following his poisoning with a nerve agent final summer season.Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Photos

The transfer additionally comes as Russia has gathered tens of 1000's of troopers alongside Ukraine's border, getting ready for an invasion. U.S. and European allies, by way of diplomatic talks, have tried to stall or cease the invasion, however have failed.

In letters exchanged with Simon Shuster, from Time, in accordance with Enterprise Insider, Navalny believes the U.S. is permitting itself to be manipulated by Putin.

"Again and again the West falls into Putin's elementary traps," Navalny wrote within the letters. "He points some insane, laughable calls for, like these newest ones, about how he and Biden want to sit down down in a smoke-filled room and determine the destiny of Europe like we're again in 1944."

The U.S. has warned Russia it can face "extreme financial sanctions" if it invades Ukraine. Navalny, nonetheless, is urging the U.S. to impose sanctions that will "hit Putin the place it hurts," in accordance with Enterprise Insider.

"In Russia, we're all uninterested in rolling our eyes, watching the U.S. impose sanctions on some colonels and generals, who do not even have cash overseas," Navalny wrote. "These are simply brokers of Putin's will."