2️⃣ *Russia has sentenced three lawyers who had defended Alexei Navalny* to several years in prison for *bringing messages from the late opposition leader from jail* to the outside world. 🇷🇺 The sentences come as *Russia, in the midst of a massive crackdown* during its Ukraine offensive, *seeks to punish Navalny's associates since his unexplained death* in an Arctic prison colony last February. *Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin* -- who were arrested in October 2023 -- were *found guilty of participating in an _"extremist organisation"_,* a court in the Russian town of Petushki, east of Moscow, ruled. *Kobzev, the most high-profile member of Navalny's legal team, was given 5.5 years,* while Liptser was handed five years and Sergunin 3.5 years.