Prosecutors have charged the former lawyer with offences related to article 214 of the penal code which covers vandalism.
ADVERTISEMENTKremlin critic Alexei Navalny is already serving a 30-year sentence in Russia for crimes including extremism, which are widely viewed as politically motivated.
Before going to jail, the 47-year-old was best known for campaigning against official corruption and organising large protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In 2021, the former lawyer was arrested after he returned to Moscow from Germany, where he had gone for emergency medical treatment for nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin.
He has since been handed three prison terms and has faced months in solitary confinement after being accused of various minor infractions.
“I don’t even know whether to describe my latest news as sad, funny or absurd,” he wrote in comments on social media Friday via his team. “I have no idea what Article 214 is, and there’s nowhere to look. You’ll know before I do.”
He said that the charges were part of the Kremlin’s desire to “initiate a new criminal case against me every three months.” Never before has a convict in solitary confinement for more than a year had such a rich social and political life,” he joked.
Navalny is one of President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent opponents, best known for campaigning against official corruption and organising major anti-Kremlin protests.
Several of Navalny's associates have also faced extremism-related charges after the politician’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption and a network of regional offices were outlawed as extremist groups in 2021, a move that exposed virtually anyone affiliated with them to prosecution.