Russian authorities have detained three lawyers representing jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny after searching their homes, his supporters have said.
Ally of Mr Navalny said raids on Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser are politically motivated who have been accused of taking part in a terrorist group.
The move was an attempt to “completely isolate Navalny,” his associate Zhdanov said on social media.
Mr Navalny has been in prison since January 2021, serving a 19-year prison sentence.
All three were detained and their properties searched Mr Navalny’s team said on Telegram.
They appeared in court and were ordered to pre-trial detention pending investigation and trial.
Independent Russian media also reported a raid at a law firm that employs another of Mr Navalny’s lawyers, Olga Mikhailova.
According to reports, she is currently not in Russia.
Mr Navalny, currently in Penal Colony No. 6 in the Vladimir region east of Moscow, is due to be transferred to a “special security” penal colony, a facility with the highest security level in the Russian penitentiary system.
“If he won’t have access to lawyers, he will end up in complete isolation, the kind no one can really even imagine,” she said.
Mr Navalny is Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic, campaigning against official corruption and organising major anti-Kremlin protests.
His 2021 arrest came after his return to Moscow from Germany where he recuperated from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. He has since been handed three prison terms, most recently on the charges of extremism.
His Anti-Corruption Foundation and a vast network of regional offices were outlawed that same year as extremist groups, a step that exposed anyone involved with them to prosecution.
Mr Navalny has denied all the charges against him and branded them politically motivated.
