Lilia Chanysheva Explained

Native Name Lang:ru
Birth Date:6 February 1982
Birth Place:Ufa, Bashkir ASSR, Soviet Union
Occupation:Auditor
Alma Mater:Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
Spouse:Almaz Gatin
Party:Progress Party (since 2013)
Known For:Opposition to Vladimir Putin

Lilia Ayratovna Chanysheva (Russian: Лилия Айратовна Чанышева, Bashkir: Лилиә Айрат ҡыҙы Чанышева|translit=Liliä Ayrat qıźı Çanışeva, Tatar: Лилия Айрат кызы Чанышева|translit=Liliä Ayrat qızı Çanışeva; born 6 February 1982) is a Russian auditor, opposition politician and former[1] leading associate of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. On 14 June 2023 Chanysheva was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on extremism-related charges. She had served over a year of that sentence.

On 1 August 2024, Chanysheva was released as one of 26 total prisoners swapped in the 2024 Russian prisoner exchange, being a part of the largest prisoner exchange in post-Cold War history.[2] [3]

Career

Chanysheva is a graduate of a leading Russian state financial university. She worked at international accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte in Moscow. She then returned to Ufa in her native Bashkortostan. In 2017, Chanysheva started to run the regional branch of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation in Ufa.

In November 2021, Chanysheva was detained amid a wider crackdown on Navalny's political network. Retroactively, extremism charges were introduced against her. On 14 June 2023 she was sentenced to 7½ years in prison on extremism-related charges.[4] The court also ordered her to pay a fine of 400,000 rubles (approximately $4,760). The trial was classified as secret.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Chanysheva . Lilia . Give Me a Chance To Be a Mother . 19 June 2023 . The Moscow Times.
  2. News: Greenall . Robert . Biggest Russia-West exchange since Cold War sees 24 prisoners freed . 4 August 2024 . BBC.
  3. News: Ilyushina . Maya . Dixon . Robyn . Westfall . Sammy . Brown . Cate . A list of people freed in prisoner swap deal with Russia . 4 August 2024 . The Washington Post.
  4. News: Maynes . Charles . An associate of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is sentenced to prison for extremism . 19 June 2023 . NPR.
  5. News: Navalny associate Lilia Chanysheva sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on ‘extremism’ charges . 19 June 2023 . Meduza.