Senior programmer at Russia’s internet regulator is sentenced for donation to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation
A Moscow court handed a four-year suspended sentence to Leonid Stepanov, an employee of Russia’s federal communications regulator Roskomnadzor, on charges of financing extremism, according to the independent news outlet Mediazona.
Stepanov, 48, is a lead programmer at the Main Radio Frequency Center, a Roskomnadzor-run agency. The case grew out of transfers he made to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was founded by the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
Investigators said Stepanov made two transfers to the foundation in August 2021 totaling 1,532 rubles and 43 kopecks (about $21 at the time), by which point Russian authorities had already designated the group an “extremist organization.”
Stepanov’s case was opened in May 2026, and he was placed under house arrest. Prosecutors had sought six years in a penal colony, while the defense pushed for a fine.
In court, Stepanov fully admitted his guilt and expressed remorse. At the defense’s request, Mediazona said, his awards were entered into the case file: a Roskomnadzor certificate of appreciation titled “For Conscientious Work” and a commemorative badge titled “For Dedication to the Profession.”
As of April 2026, Russian authorities had opened at least 225 criminal cases over donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation made after it was banned in August 2021, according to Mediazona’s calculations. The outlet has not published more recent data, but reports of new cases or verdicts over transfers to the foundation appear at least once a week.
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