FILE - Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who was arrested on espionage charges, listens to the verdict in court in Moscow, Russia, on June 15, 2020. (Sofia Sandurskaya, Moscow News Agency photo via AP, File)
FILE - Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands listening to the verdict in a glass cage of a courtroom inside the building of "Palace of justice," in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Alsu Kurmasheva, an editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service, attends a court hearing in Kazan, Russia on May 31, 2024. Kurmasheva, a dual Russia-U.S. national employed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was convicted July 19 of spreading false information about the Russian army and sentenced to 6½ years in prison. Her family and RFE/RL have rejected the charges. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Lilia Chanysheva makes a heart gesture as she stands in a cage during a hearing in Kirovskiy District Court in Ufa, Russia, on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. Chanysheva, a former associate of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny, was convicted in 2023 of extremism charges, widely seen as politically motivated, and sentenced to 9½ years in prison. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Russian opposition activist and former municipal deputy of the Krasnoselsky district Ilya Yashin stands inside a glass cubicle in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 9, 2022. (Yury Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP, File)
This photo combination shows, clockwise from top left: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, corporate security executive Paul Whelan, former head of Open Russia movement Andrei Pivovarov, Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, Prague-based editor for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service Alsu Kurmasheva, and Lilia Chanysheva, former coordinator of regional offices of the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny. (AP Photo)
This photo combination shows, in the centre, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and clockwise from top left are Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, corporate security executive and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Lilia Chanysheva, former coordinator of regional offices of the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny, co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Memorial Human Rights Centre Oleg Orlov, artist and musician Sasha Skochilenko, Russian opposition activist and former municipal deputy of the Krasnoselsky district Ilya Yashin, government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tatar-Bashkir service Alsu Kurmasheva and former head of Open Russia movement Andrei Pivovarov. (AP Photo)
FILE - The co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Memorial Human Rights Centre Oleg Orlov gestures standing in a glass cage after he was taken into custody in the courtroom during court session for a new trial on charges of repeated discrediting Russian military, in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Orlov, a veteran human rights campaigner, was convicted of publicly discrediting the Russian military and sentenced to 2½ years in prison in 2024. He has rejected the charges as politically motivated. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Sasha Skochilenko, a 33 year-old artist and musician shows a heart behind bars in the court room as she waits for a hearing in the Vasileostrovsky district court in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. Skochilenko, an artist and musician, was convicted in 2023 of spreading false information about the Russian military and sentenced to seven years in prison. She denied the charges. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool, File)
FILE - Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza gestures standing in a glass cage in a courtroom during announcement of the verdict on appeal at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, on July 31, 2023. Kara-Murza, a prominent opposition politician and a dual Russian-U.K. citizen, was convicted of treason and other charges in 2023 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He has rejected the charges as politically motivated. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Andrei Pivovarov, former head of Open Russia movement, speaks with media in Moscow, Russia, on July 9, 2020.Pivovarov, a prominent opposition figure, was convicted in 2022 of involvement in an "undesirable" organization and sentenced to four years in prison. He has rejected the charges as politically motivated. (AP Photo/Denis Kaminev, File)