New Delhi: Amid the mounting tension over the Russia-Ukraine crisis which could potentially alter the dynamics of Geopolitics if the situation further escalates, Russia on Tuesday added jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a number of his allies to its list of "terrorists and extremists". Navalny and his other allies, like his key aide Lyubov Sobol, have been added to a database of banned individuals compiled by the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring).
It is pertinent to note here that, Russia in the past year has seen an unprecedented attack on Kremlin critics, including the jailing of Alexei Navalny last January and further banning of his political organizations. With this decision to put them into the list of terrorists and extremists, they would now be on the same footing as right-wing ultra Nationalist groups and even foreign terrorist groups such as Islamic State.
To escape from the Kremlin authorities, Sobol and the majority of Navalny's allies have since fled the country. According to Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was shut down last year after being declared extremist, dozen Navalny allies were added to the list on Tuesday. Navalny's key aides Ivan Zhdanov and Leonid Volkov were added to the list earlier this month.
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Mocking the 'terrorist' label, Volkov, who used to oversee Navalny's regional offices, tweeted that he was "proud to work in our team of 'extremists and terrorists".
"It's great that our super team of 'terrorists' is being joined by such great people," Zhdanov, who headed the now-disbanded Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on Twitter.
At a time when Russia-US relations have been facing their biggest low over the Ukraine crisis, both US and EU have condemned the actions of Kremlin. "This latest designation represents a new low in Russia's continuing crackdown on independent civil society," US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington.
"We urge Russia to cease the abuse of 'extremism' designations to target nonviolent organizations, to end its repression of Mr Navalny and his supporters, and to honour its international obligations to respect and ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms," Price said.
