<p>A Russian court on Wednesday ordered jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh to be held under house arrest pending trial until January next year, her lawyer and allies said.</p>.<p>Russia has cracked down hard on the opposition ahead of parliamentary elections in September. Most of Navalny's prominent allies have either left Russia or are facing prosecution.</p>.<p>Yarmysh has been under house arrest since February accused of breaching Covid-19 safety regulations at what the authorities said was an unauthorised protest in support of Navalny, a charge she says is politically-motivated.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old has been Navalny's spokesperson since 2014.</p>.<p>"They've extended her house arrest for six months! Until Jan. 6 2022," Veronika Polyakova, Yarmysh's lawyer, wrote on Twitter after the court decision.</p>.<p>Navalny's allies said on Twitter that the ruling looked like part of a strategy to keep opposition figures like Yarmysh under house arrest "eternally".</p>.<p>The Kremlin says it doesn't interfere in the work of the courts and that they are guided strictly by the letter of the law.</p>.<p>Navalny, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, is himself serving a 2-1/2 year jail term for parole violations related to an embezzlement conviction he says was trumped up.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>
<p>A Russian court on Wednesday ordered jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh to be held under house arrest pending trial until January next year, her lawyer and allies said.</p>.<p>Russia has cracked down hard on the opposition ahead of parliamentary elections in September. Most of Navalny's prominent allies have either left Russia or are facing prosecution.</p>.<p>Yarmysh has been under house arrest since February accused of breaching Covid-19 safety regulations at what the authorities said was an unauthorised protest in support of Navalny, a charge she says is politically-motivated.</p>.<p>The 31-year-old has been Navalny's spokesperson since 2014.</p>.<p>"They've extended her house arrest for six months! Until Jan. 6 2022," Veronika Polyakova, Yarmysh's lawyer, wrote on Twitter after the court decision.</p>.<p>Navalny's allies said on Twitter that the ruling looked like part of a strategy to keep opposition figures like Yarmysh under house arrest "eternally".</p>.<p>The Kremlin says it doesn't interfere in the work of the courts and that they are guided strictly by the letter of the law.</p>.<p>Navalny, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, is himself serving a 2-1/2 year jail term for parole violations related to an embezzlement conviction he says was trumped up.</p>.<p><strong>Check out DH's latest videos:</strong></p>