Now Putin goes after Alexei Navalny's family: Arrest warrant is put out for 'murdered' opposition leader's brother who has fled Russia

The brother of late Russian dissident Alexei Navalny is allegedly facing unspecified new criminal charges as tensions ratchet up over the circumstances of Alexei's shock death last week.

Oleg Navalny, currently in self-exile, has been added to Russia's 'wanted list' by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to Russian state-controlled media outlet TASS.

It was not immediately clear on what legal basis the case against the 40-year-old had been opened, TASS announcing charges were filed 'without giving any details'.

Oleg was already on the Ministry's wanted list in connection with another case, alleged to have violated Russia's Covid-19 lockdown restrictions by encouraging people to join his brother's antigovernmental protests. 

But the move to arrest him now comes at a sensitive time following protests across Europe over the sudden death of anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a brutal Arctic penal colony on February 16.

Alexei Navalny's sudden death in the IK-3 penal colony in Kharp last week has left many questions unanswered, sparking protests across Europe and prompting his supporters to reaffirm their commitment to continuing his anti-corruption activism.

Navalny was reported to have died on Friday after collapsing suddenly following a walk. On Saturday, his mother and team journeyed to the camp, where they were told investigators were still trying to determine the cause of death.

Lyudmila Navalnaya asked to see her son's body but was told it was in the nearby Salekhard morgue. They were later informed it had been moved, leading to suspicions Russia had hid Navalny's body to wait for traces of a nerve agent to disappear.

Russian investigators claimed on Saturday Navalny had died from sudden adult death syndrome, but later said they would not hand over Navalny's body for 14 days while a 'chemical examination' takes place.

Navalny was previously suspected to have been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in 2020 after falling suddenly ill when returning from investigating corruption in Siberia.

For years he had worked with his brother Oleg to expose corruption in the Russian state and advocate for democratic reforms, battling repeated attempts to shut down their organisations and bring charges against them suspected to carry political motivations.

In January 2021, Oleg received a one-year suspended sentence for his alleged incitement to protest during the Covid pandemic.

Unauthorised protest is also, notably, illegal in Russia, prompting swift and harsh responses from Russian police.

Oleg was banned from leaving his house at night, attending mass events and leaving Moscow as part of his sentence, before a correctional inspection submitted a request for him to be jailed.

Before the decision was finalised in February 2022, Oleg had already fled Russia, according to Radio Free Europe.

The request was later repealed, but nonetheless sparked outrage among supports of the Navalny brothers, judging it a targeted political attack.

A month later, Alexei Navalny - already languishing in prison - was hit with a nine year sentence in a 'strict regime penal colony' after being found guilty of fraud and contempt of court.

Prosecutors accused him of stealing $4.7m (£3.5m) of donations given to clandestine organisations, including his anti-corruption foundation.

The ruling was to replace his current sentence, meaning he would have to spend another seven years in a remote maximum-security prison, facing even harsher conditions than he had in Moscow after being jailed for allegedly violating parole conditions after being sent to Germany to be treated for Novichok poisoning.

The nerve agent poisoning in 2020 implicated Russian officials in the eyes of western leaders as Alexei was returning from investigating corruption in Siberia.

He and his brother had already been targeted in 2014, both convicted of stealing about $500,000 from two Russian firms, one linked to French cosmetics company Yves Rocher, and the other allegedly laundering some of the money.

Both denied the charges, claiming the case was politically motivated.

Alexei was ultimately handed a suspended sentence while Oleg was only released in late June 2018, after serving the full term.