Kremlin Critic's Ally Jailed For Video Post

The sentencing came as Russia inches closer to shutting down Navalny's political network, with his regional offices announcing they would disband ahead of a ruling over whether to designate his organisations as extremist.

A Russian court on Thursday sentenced an ally of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny to two and a half years in prison on pornography charges, his lawyer said. The sentencing came as Russia inches closer to shutting down Navalny's political network, with his regional offices announcing they would disband ahead of a ruling over whether to designate his organisations as extremist. The court in Arkhangelsk, northern Russia, ruled that Andrei Borovikov, a former coordinator for Navalny's offices, had spread pornography by reposting a music video by the German metal band Rammstein. Borovikov, 32, had pleaded not guilty to the charge, and his defence team will appeal the decision, lawyer Andrei Kychin added.