Russia on Monday July 26 blocked almost 50 websites linked to the jailed opponent Alexeï Navalny, as the authorities step up their pressure against the opposition, which was excluded from the legislative elections in September.

According to Russian Internet gendarme Roskomnadzor, access to the sites of the opponent's Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK) and its regional offices was restricted at the request of the Russian prosecution.

"The Internet resources mentioned are used for propaganda and the pursuit of prohibited extremist activities of the FBK and the regional offices of Navalny," the organization said in a statement to AFP. 

"49 (!) Sites at a time were blocked", reacted Leonid Volkov, one of the close collaborators of Alexeï Navalny.

Declared "extremists" by Russian justice

The FBK, known for its investigations into the lifestyle and embezzlement of the Russian elites, and the regional offices which coordinate the demonstrations and the electoral campaigns of the opponent, had been declared in June "extremist" by the Russian courts.

This decision followed months of repression targeting the opposition marked by the sending of Alexeï Navalny, 45, to a penal colony, the exile of several executives of his movement, but also measures targeting the independent press and other critical voices.

According to Leonid Volkov, who himself lives in exile in Lithuania, these measures are aimed at further hampering the activities of supporters of Alexey Navalny ahead of the parliamentary elections in September, amid the growing unpopularity of the ruling United Russia party.

"But we will soon tell how we can get around all this," he said.   

Several sites declared "foreign agents"

"They have decided to completely wipe us off the Russian internet," Maria Pevchikh, head of FBK investigations, said on Twitter.

В России заблокировали не только сайт Навального.

Заблокировали вообще ВСЕ сайты, связанные с нами, включая РосЖКХ, РосЯму, сайт Волкова, сайть Сотатый Сотый

Просто целиком решили вычистить нас из российского интернета.

- Maria Pevchikh (@pevchikh) July 26, 2021

Leonid Volkov specified that the only site still accessible is the one devoted to "intelligent voting", a technique promoted by Alexeï Navalny consisting of giving his voice to any candidate who can beat the party in power, whatever his political color.

Since the return to Russia of Alexey Navalny in January 2021, after several months of convalescence in Germany where he was recovering from a poisoning of which he accuses Vladimir Putin, the Russian authorities have embarked on a large operation aimed at silencing all voices critical.

This operation targets not only the opposition, but also the media and NGOs.

In recent months, several news sites have been declared "foreign agents", a statute which hinders their functioning and which has forced one of them, Vtimes, to close for fear of legal proceedings.

A well-known investigation site, Proekt, has been declared "junk" by the Justice Ministry, de facto banning its activities.

In mid-July, the group of lawyers "Komanda 29", which had defended the organizations of Alexeï Navalny and more generally defended the Russians accused of treason or espionage, announced its self-dissolution, accused of being associated with an "unwanted" Czech organization.

On Saturday, the Communist candidate for the 2018 presidential election, Pavel Groudinin, was banned from standing in the legislative elections on the grounds that he owns shares in a foreign company.

With AFP

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