The team of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny says it will resume operations across Russia despite being banned as "extremist" last year, after which many of the Kremlin critic's associates and supporters fled the country.

Navalny associates Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov said in a statement posted on YouTube on October 4 that after more than seven months of President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the regime had "weakened" and it is time for a new network to operate like an "underground guerilla group."

In recent months, many of Navalny's associates and members of his teams across Russia fled the country fearing for their safety amid a broad crackdown on political and civil dissent in Russia.

Zhdanov said in the video that the "safety of the group's members is a priority" and that a system has been set up to ensure the anonymity of any data transmitted through the group.

Volkov added that former members of Navalny's networks will only be considered part of the new organizations if they choose to join. He also called on the coordinators of groups currently protesting Russia's war in Ukraine to contact Navalny's team operating abroad.

Navalny, who suffered a near-fatal poisoning in August 2020 that he blames on Russian security operatives acting at the behest of President Vladimir Putin, has been in prison since February 2021. His Anti-Corruption Foundation and his network of regional offices also have been designated "extremist" organizations.

The anti-corruption campaigner was handed a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole during of his convalescence abroad. The original conviction is widely regarded as trumped-up and politically motivated.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny's poisoning.