Navalny's press secretary leaves Russia - sources

MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax) - Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny's press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, has left Russia, two informed sources told Interfax.

"Kira Yarmysh has left the territory of the Russian Federation," one of the sources said.

The second source said that she "has gone to Helsinki."

On August 16, the Preobrazhensky Court of Moscow sentenced Yarmysh to 18 months of restrictions on counts of inciting a breach of sanitary and epidemiological regulations during an unauthorized rally in Moscow on January 23, banning her from changing her place of residence, traveling outside the Moscow region, and taking part in mass events.

Yarmysh appealed her sentence on August 27.

Unsanctioned demonstrations in support of Navalny were held in many Russian cities, including Moscow, on January 23 of this year.

A number of criminal cases were opened afterward, including on counts of a breach of sanitary and epidemiological rules, violence against police officers, and hooliganism.

The case concerning violations of sanitary and epidemiological rules is being investigated by the central staff of the Russian Investigative Committee, to which it was transferred from the investigative department of the Moscow police.

Initially, there were ten defendants in the case, among them Navalny's brother Oleg, Navalny's press secretary Yarmysh, and Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina.

On July 14, the Russian Investigative Committee ended the criminal prosecution of one defendant, municipal deputy Konstantin Jankauskas, and recognized his right to rehabilitation.