Kremlin critic Navalny and allies hit with $1.4 million lawsuit payout

FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists outside a polling station during the Moscow city parliament election in Moscow, Russia September 8, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Monday ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his allies to pay $1.4 million in damages, a blow to the Kremlin critic's group, whose bank accounts have been frozen amid what he says is a broad government crackdown.

The Moscow Arbitration Court told Navalny, his Anti-Corruption Foundation and ally Lyubov Sobol each to pay 29 million roubles ($455,000) for libelling the Moscow Schoolchild catering company, Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said.