Russian Police Search Leading Activist's Home

Russian police have raided the home of opposition activist Maria Gaidar, daughter of a former prime minister under Boris Yeltsin, as part of a probe against another top Kremlin critic, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"A search went on for several hours led by investigators and police officers on Monday," said spokeswoman Nataliya Malysheva of the Maria Gaidar Foundation.

Malysheva said the raid was connected to an investigation into money laundering allegations against opposition leader Alexei Navalny, that supporters claim is designed to muzzle the fierce Kremlin critic.

Investigators seized all Gaidar's electronic equipment and that of her family members, Malysheva said.

Navalny, a lawyer by training, became first an anti-corruption blogger then a charismatic speaker at opposition rallies against President Vladimir Putin and came second in elections for Moscow mayor last year.

Navalny was convicted of embezzlement in July 2013 and given a five-year suspended jail sentence. He is now being held under house arrest during the investigation into another legal case.

Among several legal investigations against him, Navalny is accused of embezzling campaign funds from the opposition party Union of Right Forces (SPS), which ceased to exist in 2008. 

This probe centres on a company headed by Navalny at the time, where Gaidar worked in 2007 and she is being treated as a witness in the case.

Gaidar "believes that these searches are politically motivated," Malysheva said.

Gaidar served as a deputy governor from 2009 to 2011 in the northern Kirov region. 

Her late father Yegor Gaidar was a liberal politician who became prime minister under Yeltsin, implementing harsh economic reforms to end the Soviet socialist planned economy.

Moscow police on Monday also held a search at the headquarters of The Other Russia left wing nationalist group headed by novelist Eduard Limonov that has held anti-Putin protests in central Moscow. Police arrested seven activists.

Limonov has lately been embraced by pro-Kremlin media after he voiced support for the annexation of Crimea.