Navalny Foundation Member Whisked Off To Russian Army, Others Fined After Summer Protests

Ruslan Shaveddinov, 23, was detained in his Moscow apartment and eventually sent 5,600 kilometers away to Novaya Zemlya to serve at a remote air defense base in the Arctic Ocean, Navalny learned on December 24.

Navalny, who has defied President Vladimir Putin’s rule and whose FBK has exposed large-scale public corruption, blamed the Kremlin leader for sending the group’s project manager off.

“Looks like Mr. Putin himself drafted the plan to isolate our Ruslan,” Navalny tweeted.

The opposition leader’s ally was conscripted legally, Deputy Moscow Military Commissioner Maksim Loktev told state TASS news agency.

Shaveddinov was detained based on a December 23 court ruling that rejected his challenge of the medical examination’s findings for military service.

Loktev said Shaveddinov was enlisted on October 28 but the draftee disagreed with the army conscription commission’s decision regarding his health.

A lower court on November 11 also rejected Shaveddinov’s challenge.

Service in Russia’s military is mandatory for most male citizens who are drafted for one year after turning 18 and before reaching the age of 28.

New conscripts are often subject to brutal hazing and bullying by more senior soldiers, so many young males try to avoid service by all available means.

Meanwhile, a Moscow court on December 24 fined FBK lawyer Lyubov Sobol the equivalent of $16,000 for twice repeating offenses related to rules on staging public events.

The latest fine relates to opposition rallies for holding free municipal elections that were held on August 10 and 31, both events that the Moscow Tagansky District Court ruled were led by Sobol.

However, the August 10 opposition rally was held with a permit from local authorities, but without Sobol’s participation because the offices of FBK were being searched that day, according to the lawyer.

Over the summer, regular demonstrations were held in Moscow and other Russian cities in protest of independent and opposition candidates not being able to get on the ballot for local elections. The protests soon grew to voice discontent with Russia’s broader political system.

Sobol now faces a total of more than 1 million rubles ($16,000) in fines for actions related to the summer of protests in Moscow, rights group Mediazona has reported.

Also on the same day, FBK director Ivan Zhdanov was fined 25,000 rubles ($400) and city council member Yulia Galichina 40,000 rubles ($650) for actions related to the summer protests.

With reporting by The New York Times, TASS, and Mediazona