Four Russian journalists have gone on trial in Moscow accused of working for an anti-corruption group founded by the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, which was designated as an extremist organisation in 2021.

Antonina Favorskaya, Artyom Kriger, Sergey Karelin and Konstantin Gabov were arrested earlier this year and charged with involvement with an extremist group, a criminal offence punishable by up to six years in prison.

All four have rejected the charges.

The trial, which is being held behind closed doors, is the latest step in the Kremlin’s unrelenting crackdown on dissent that has reached unprecedented levels after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.

The authorities have targeted opposition figures, independent journalists, rights activists and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin with criminal charges, jailing hundreds and prompting thousands to leave the country, fearing prosecution.

The four journalists were accused of working with Mr Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption, which was designated as extremist and outlawed by the Russian authorities in 2021. That designation has been widely seen as politically motivated.

Mr Navalny was President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest and most prominent foe and relentlessly campaigned against official corruption in Russia.

In February, he died in a remote Arctic prison while serving a 19-year sentence on a number of charges, including running an extremist group, which he had rejected as politically driven.

Favorskaya and Kriger worked with SotaVision, an independent Russian news outlet that covers protests and political trials.

Gabov is a freelance producer who has worked for multiple organisations including Reuters.

Karelin is a freelance video journalist who has done work for Western media outlets, including The Associated Press.

As they were led into the courtroom on Wednesday, a crowd of supporters greeted them with applause. In the courtroom, the four smiled at their loved ones from a glass cage.

Addressing reporters from behind the glass, Kriger cast the case against him and his fellow journalists as a cautionary tale and urged journalists still in Russia to leave the country.

“It is not a joke, any person can be charged with anything,” he said.

Favorskaya, in turn, spoke about hope, saying: “Everything that is happening now, the darkness that surrounds us, it is not forever, and we will definitely see the country that Alexei (Navalny) dreamed of, we will definitely live in a country where rights and freedoms will be (respected) and journalists and other people will not be jailed for their views.”

Shortly after the hearing began, the judge ordered the proceedings be held behind closed doors after a request from the prosecution, even though the defence objected.