Russian authorities sentenced Vadim Ostanin, an activist and close associate of incarcerated Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, to nine years in prison for being a member of an "extremist organization," the Navalny Team announced on Monday.

Russia’s Interior Ministry issued on Friday a warrant against the president of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), two days after a court delivered a first-instance ruling that declared the Moscow-based non-profit an “extremist” organization.