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An associate of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is sentenced to prison for extremism

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An associate of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is sentenced to prison for extremism


MOSCOW — A Russian court sentenced a leading associate of opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 7 1/2 years in prison on extremism-related charges on Wednesday — the latest in a series of lengthy prison terms issued to political opponents of the Kremlin amid the war in Ukraine.

Lilia Chanysheva, 41, was convicted in a closed trial in central Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan of “creating an extremist organization” — charges her lawyer denounced as “purely political.”

Prosecutors had requested a 12-year sentence, but Chanysheva acknowledged the lesser sentence was still a blow, given charges she denies and regards as a sham.

“This is much easier to handle together with you. I really need your letters and postcards,” said Chanysheva in a brief address to press and her supporters from inside the defendant’s cage following the ruling.

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Similar extremism charges await Navalny in a separate trial next week — and are widely expected to add decades to his current nine-year prison term on an embezzlement conviction.

Chanysheva is known to her detractors as “Navalny in a skirt”

By any standards, Chanysheva would seem an unlikely poster child for extremism.

A graduate of a leading Russian state financial institute, she worked at international accounting firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte before leaving Russia’s capital — and the corporate world — to return to her native Bashkortostan, a mineral-rich, majority-Muslim republic of some 4 million people nestled west of the Ural mountains.

“Yes, she could have stayed in Moscow and made her career but she decided to come home to Ufa. To put her energy into improving her home region,” Chanysheva’s husband Almaz Gatin tells NPR.

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/ Almaz Gatin

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Almaz Gatin

A selfie of Lilia Chanysheva with her husband Almaz Gatin.

In 2017, Chanysheva agreed to run the regional branch of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation in Ufa, Bashkortostan’s capital, where her skills as a financial auditor made her an effective check on budgetary graft — and soon, her allies argue, a government target.

She produced a series of muckraking video investigations alleging government corruption, which earned the ire of Bashkortostan’s regional governor Radiy Khabirov in particular, say supporters.

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So, too, did Chanysheva’s defense of Kushtau — a sacred hill beloved by locals that government-tied industries had hoped to mine for limestone deposits. Chanysheva led a months-long campaign of public protests that eventually forced Khabirov to halt the development plans.

Chanysheva also tried to run for local office, only to see her candidacy purged from voter rolls by Bashkortostan’s election commission.

Meanwhile, harassment from the authorities kept building — with Chanysheva facing surveillance, repeated arrests and raids by security forces on their home, says Gatin.

“Those who are the strongest and most talented are the ones who face the most pressure,” he tells NPR. “And to me, it said that Lilia had become the most important politician in Bashkortostan.”

In government circles, Gatin says, his wife was derided — and increasingly feared — as “Navalny in a skirt.”

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Women are increasingly targets of repression

In November 2021, federal agents detained Chanysheva amid a wider crackdown on Navalny’s political network, after a judge ruled his Anti-Corruption Foundation in violation of extremism laws.

That the foundation had already shuttered its doors or that Chanysheva had already left the organization to focus on family life with Gatin made no difference: the extremism charges against Chanysheva were introduced retroactively.

It was a harbinger of the quickly shifting political climate in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — a period that saw high-profile figures like Navalny imprisoned, but also women increasingly as targets of government repression.

A study by the Russian independent rights monitoring group OVD-Info found women made up nearly half of the more than 20,000 arrests of protesters since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Indeed, in her final statement to the court earlier this month, Chanysheva noted the role gender played in her troubles and, increasingly, the country at large.

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“I am a politician, a woman who is being persecuted by men who are her opponents,” she told the judge.

She then highlighted the cases of several Russian women facing similar lengthy terms for allegedly violating new laws that outlaw criticism of the military’s actions in Ukraine.

A Siberian journalist had been jailed for six years for reporting truthfully on the conflict, she noted. Another woman currently faces a decade in prison for artwork protesting the violence of the war.

“And how many more talented and courageous women whose names we don’t know have been put in jail for their political views?” Chanysheva said in the court.

Gatkin says the court’s “painful” ruling this week means Bashkortostan is robbing itself of a new generation of leadership — but insists it’s only for now.

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“No one is giving up and we’ll continue to fight,” he tells NPR. “Lilia has a beautiful future ahead of her.”

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.





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Dawn Staley shares how South Carolina has responded since loss

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Dawn Staley shares how South Carolina has responded since loss


South Carolina had its run of 43 straight wins come to an end this past Sunday as Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks suffered a 77-62 loss at UCLA.

Staley said after the loss and ahead of the matchup with Iowa State on Thursday that she thought her team would respond the right way. Needless to say the Gamecocks did against Iowa State, pounding the Cyclones 76-36 on Thanksgiving Day.

“That’s what a team does. This is a resilient group,” Dawn Staley said. “This is a team that obviously hasn’t dealt with a whole lot of losing. It’ll shake you for a moment.

“We’ve got a 24-hour rule. Bask in the glory of a defeat and you handle a defeat. And you handle it with grace, but you handle it with learning lessons. Things were exposed and hopefully we can fill some of those holes and get back to happier times.”

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It was certainly a happier time for South Carolina on Thursday. The Gamecocks led Iowa State 19-3 at the end of the first quarter and 35-9 at halftime.

South Carolina went on a 32-0 run at one point in the first half and easily handled an Iowa State team that was ranked No. 15 nationally.

Dawn Staley said ahead of the game that she wanted her team to play better offensively and it did. South Carolina shot 45.3 percent from the floor against Iowa State after connecting on only 36.4 percent of its attempts against UCLA.

“Our offense, just getting better looks and getting better ball movement,” Dawn Staley said of where South Carolina needed to improve. “The ball has been sticking too much to individual players and it’s stagnant.

“We need to get our bigs involved, so we’re going to look to get them involved in positions they can score, whether that’s two feet in the paint or hitting mid-range shots. If you’ve got 3-point range, you can take good, fluid, rhythm 3s.”

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South Carolina relied on a balanced scoring attack against Iowa State as senior forward Sania Feagin and freshman forward Joyce Edwards led the way with 13 points each.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Saturday when they face Purdue in Fort Meyers, Florida. Tip off is set for 11 a.m.



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No. 15 South Carolina at No. 12 Clemson: 5 Things to Watch For

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No. 15 South Carolina at No. 12 Clemson: 5 Things to Watch For


Clemson and South Carolina will renew their annual rivalry on Saturday when the No. 12 Tigers host the No. 15 Gamecocks at high noon in Death Valley.

This will be the 121st all-time meeting between the two schools but with College Football Playoff implications on the line for both teams, this year’s matchup is arguably the biggest to date in the long, storied history of the series.

The Gamecocks (8-3) come in riding high, having won five straight, while the Tigers (9-2) are in the midst of a three-game winning streak.

5 Things to Watch

1. Strength vs. Strength: Football is generally a game of matchups and one of the biggest in this game is Clemson’s much-improved offense against that stout South Carolina defense. Make no mistake, this as good of a defense as the Tigers have seen this season. It’s comparable with Georgia’s and nobody has forgotten how this offense looked that day.

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The Gamecocks will bring an elite-level defensive line to town and there are guys on the backend of that defense that will be playing on Sundays. If Clemson has any shot at winning this game, the offense is going to have to be efficient and balanced. Scoring touchdowns is a must. Last year the offense failed to score a touchdown in this game. A bunch of field goals will not cut it on Saturday.

2. Create Turnovers: Whoever wins the turnover battle probably wins this game. The Tigers are +13 in the margin and South Carolina has been prone to turning it over at times. It’s something they’ve gotten a little cleaned up in recent weeks, but they still have lost 11 fumbles this season. They are only +3 in the margin. Clemson being able to create some takeaways, while continuing to protect the football, should prove to be beneficial.

3. Pressure the Quarterback: There are two things the Tigers absolutely can not do. Number one, they can not afford to allow LaNorris Sellers to get comfortable in the pocket. For most of the season, Clemson’s pass rush has not been what most believed it would be, but in the wins over Virginia Tech and Pitt, it’s started to come around. Getting after Sellers is a must. South Carolina has allowed 36 sacks this season, but just four in the past three games, with three of those coming in the win over Wofford.

Second, the Tigers must keep Sellers contained in the pocket. If running lanes are left open, Sellers will find them and next thing you know he has darted for 20 yards or more. He is as good of a running quarterback as Clemson has seen and athletic quarterbacks have been an issue for this defense at times. He is very quick to make something out of nothing. And then when they get hands on him they must bring him down. Sellers is really good at running through contact.

4. Klubnik Time: There is no getting around the fact that Cade Klubnik is drastically improved over what he was at this point last season. There is a night and day difference. Having said that, if Clemson is going to win this game, Klubnik is going to have to bring it. This South Carolina defense is going to bring the heat and it is under those conditions that the junior quarterback has, at times, faltered.

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Klubnik is the unquestioned leader on the offensive side of the ball, and it is him that will need to lead the Tigers to victory. Making good decisions and keeping his poise will be key. However, it’s his legs that could prove to be the difference.

5A. Slow Down Running Game: How frustrating has it been watching the Tigers’ run defense this season? Clemson is allowing right at 150 yards per game on the ground. They don’t even rank inside of the Top 50 in rush defense.

Rocket Sanders is averaging right at five yards per carry and is a hard-nosed runner. However, as noted above, it’s Sellers that might be more dangerous. The redshirt freshman has right at 700 rushing yards, so the Gamecocks rely heavily on him making plays with his legs.

If Clemson is going to come away victorious, they need an effort similar to what we saw in the win over Virginia Tech, when the Tigers totally shut down that high-powered ground game of the Hokies. Getting Wade Woodaz back would help tremendously, and it sounds like he’s trending towards playing. Either way. slowing down that ground game and making that offense beat you through the air is crucial.

5B. No Special Teams Miscues: If there was ever a game in which you needed to be sharp on special teams, this is it. No fumbles on kickoffs and none on punt returns. Not to mention, you can’t let the Gamecocks block any field goals. Nolan Hauser has had six field goals blocked this season, all due to the protection breaking down in front of him. Those are huge momentum shifting plays, and Clemson can ill-afford to have any of those this week.

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A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online! 



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How to watch South Carolina vs Iowa State women’s basketball: Time, channel, live streams

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How to watch South Carolina vs Iowa State women’s basketball: Time, channel, live streams


The 4th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team next ships off to the Sunshine State for a matchup with No. 15 Iowa State at the Fort Myers Tip-off. The game is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX and streaming on-demand.

  • How to watch: Live streams of the South Carolina vs. Iowa State game are available with offers from FuboTV (free trial), SlingTV (low intro rate) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
  • For a limited time, FuboTV is offering $30 off the first month after the free trial period. With the $30 offer, plans start at $49.99.

#4 South Carolina Gamecocks (5-1) vs. #15 Iowa State Cyclones (5-1)

NCAA women’s basketball matchup at a glance

When: Thursday, Nov. 28 at 1:30 p.m. ET

Where: Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Fort Myers, Fla.

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TV channel: FOX

Live streams: FuboTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate) | DirecTV Stream (free trial)

Both South Carolina and Iowa State lost their first games of the 2024-’25 season within the past eight days, with the Gamecocks falling on the road to No. 5 UCLA (77-62) on Sunday and the Cyclones to Northern Iowa (87-75) last Wednesday in Cedar Falls. South Carolina is now 5-1 in its defense of the 2024 NCAA women’s championship with a top-10 win over NC State highlighting the team’s early-season résumé. The Gamecocks will be Iowa State’s first ranked opponent after falling to No. 2 seed Stanford in overtime (87-81) in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Know your live streaming options

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  • FuboTV (free trial)excellent viewer experience with huge library of live sports content; free trial lengths vary; monthly rate after free trial starts at $59.99 after current $20 discount offer.
  • SlingTV (low intro rate) discounted first month is best if you’ve run out of free trials or you’re in the market for 1+ month of TV
  • DirecTV Stream (free trial) not the same level of viewer experience as FuboTV, but the standard 7-day free trial is still the longest in streaming.

South Carolina and Iowa State are set for a 1:30 p.m. ET start on FOX. Live streams are available from FuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and SlingTV (low intro rate).



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