A court in Moscow has replaced the 18-month parole-like sentence handed to Kira Yarmysh, the press secretary of jailed anti-corruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny, to actual prison time, saying she violated the terms of her punishment when she fled the country.

Yarmysh tweeted on June 16 that a court in Moscow approved the request made by the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) to the sentence she was handed in August last year for publicly calling for the violation of coronavirus safety precautions because she urged people to participate in unsanctioned rallies to support Navalny after he was arrested at a Moscow airport upon his return from Germany, where he was convalescing from a poison attack.

Days after the court verdict, Yarmysh fled Russia.

Several of Navalny's associates have been convicted on similar charges and were handed freedom-limitation sentences.

Many subsequently fled Russia and had their parole-like sentences replaced with actual prison terms.