Navalny launches anti-Putin, anti-war campaign as new trial starts

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, his lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev and other participants are seen on a screen via a video link during an external hearing of the Moscow City Court in a new criminal case against Navalny on numerous charges, including the creation of an extremist organization, at the IK-6 penal colony in the Vladimir region, Russia, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

(Reuters) - Russian politician Alexei Navalny announced the start of a new mass campaign against President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine on Monday as he began his latest trial in prison, facing a potential sentence of several decades more behind bars.

Navalny, 47, is already serving sentences totalling 11-1/2 years, and is now facing an array of charges linked to alleged "extremist" activity. Acquittals of opposition figures are practically unheard of in Russia.