Lyubov Eduardovna Sobol (russian: link=no, Любо́вь Эдуа́рдовна Со́боль, née Fedenyova, ; born 13 September 1987) is a

Russian opposition Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and the various non-systemic opposition organizations. While the former are largely viewed as bein ...

politician, lawyer and a member of the

Russian Opposition Coordination Council The Russian Opposition Coordination Council (OCC or KSO; russian: Координационный совет российской оппозиции, КСО – ''Koordinatsionnyy sovet rossiyskoy oppozitsii'', KSO) was a council created in October ...

(2012–2013). She produces the YouTube channel "Navalny Live" of

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption act ...

. Sobol was a lawyer of the

Anti-Corruption Foundation The Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF or FBK; russian: Фонд борьбы с коррупцией (ФБК), Fond borby s korruptsiyey (FBK), Foundation for combating corruption) is a non-profit organization established in 2011 by Russian opposit ...

until its closure in 2021.

Biography

Sobol was born on 13 September 1987 in Lobnya,

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally " under Moscow"), is a federal subject of R ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. In 2004, she graduated from the gymnasium class of a secondary school with a silver medal, and entered the Institute of Jurisprudence of the State Law Academy in Moscow. In parallel with her studies, she worked in the Presnensky District Court of Moscow as secretary of the court session and as an assistant to the judge. In 2006, she entered the Law Faculty of the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

graduating with honours in 2011. In 2011 and 2012, she took part in various forms of civil-political activities, in opposition rallies, volunteer movement in

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...

and assistance to

Krymsk Krymsk (russian: Крымск) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Population: 57,927 (2020), History It was founded in 1858 as the fortress and ''stanitsa'' of Krymskaya (), named after the Crimean Cossack Regiment. It was the capital of the ...

, she was an observer at various levels of elections. Since March 2011, she has been a lawyer of the RosPil Project created by

to fight corruption in the area of budget spending. That same year,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

Russian language edition awarded Lyubov Sobol seventh place in their 2011 ranking of "faces few know", recognising the year's most influential but still relatively unknown personalities. On 22 October 2012, she was elected on the civil list to the Russian Opposition Coordination Council, receiving 25,270 votes on the civil list and taking the fifteenth place, ahead of such famous politicians as

Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov ( rus, Бори́с Ефи́мович Немцо́в, p=bɐˈrʲis jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪmˈtsof; 9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. He was involved in the introduction ...

and

Sergey Udaltsov Sergei Stanislavovich Udaltsov (russian: Серге́й Станиславович Удальцов; born 16 February 1977) is a Russian left-wing political activist. He is the unofficial leader of the Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM). In 2011 and 2 ...

. In March 2016, she announced her intention to run for election to the 7th convocation of the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper hous ...

in the fall of 2016 from the majority district in the Central Administrative District of Moscow. On 24 May, she withdrew her candidacy. In May 2018, she became a member of the Central Council of Alexei Navalny's political party Russia of the Future. In 2019, she again took part in the campaign for the election to the

Moscow City Duma The Moscow City Duma (russian: Московская городская дума, Moskovskaya gorodskaya duma) is the regional parliament ( city duma) of Moscow, a federal subject and the capital city of Russia. As Moscow is one of three fede ...

. On 2 September, she was detained by police after a protest on the weekend in Moscow. She was included in the Leadership category by the BBC on its 2019 list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. On 21 December 2020, Sobol went to knock on the door of alleged FSB agent Konstantin Kudryavtsev (who had recently provided details about the

poisoning of Alexei Navalny On 20 August 2020, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent and was hospitalized in serious condition. During a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, he became ill and was taken to a h ...

) but was detained by police for more than six hours. On 25 December 2020, Russian authorities raided Sobol's home, detained her, and opened a criminal investigation, alleging she had made an unlawful threat. Sobol has denied the charges. If convicted, Sobol could face two to five years in prison. On 23 January 2021 during a protest in Moscow opposing the arrest of Navalny, Sobol was grabbed and pulled away from an interview with reporters by multiple police officers. On 3 August 2021, she was convicted of COVID-19 restrictions violations and sentenced to one year and a half of parole-like restrictions. Sobol calls the convictions as politically-motivated and nonsensical. On 8 August 2021, Sobol announced that she had divorced her husband. On the same day, Russian media outlets reported that she had left Russia, having taken a flight from Moscow’s

Vnukovo Airport Vnukovo, formally Vnukovo Andrei Tupolev International Airport (named after Andrei Tupolev) ( rus, links=no, Внуково, p=ˈvnukəvə) , is a dual-runway international airport located in Vnukovo District, southwest of the centre of Moscow, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. Sobol herself has not yet commented on her departure. The Russian police put out an arrest warrant for Sobol in October 2021.

References

External links

Роспил
�
Любовь Соболь
*
Lyubov Sobol: The woman driving Russia's opposition protests
BBC Reel, 20 November 2019
Russian Protesters Threatened With Jail Sentences On Eve Of Planned Rally In Moscow

including video of 25 December 2020 raid {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobol, Lyubov 1987 births Living people 21st-century jurists 21st-century Russian women politicians People from Lobnya Kutafin Moscow State Law University alumni Moscow State University alumni Alexei Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation BBC 100 Women Russian activists Russian dissidents Lawyers from Moscow Russian liberals Russian YouTubers Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Political prisoners according to Memorial People listed in Russia as media foreign agents Russian female YouTubers