Moscow car rental agency sues Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and independent TV station ‘Dozhd’ for 1 billion rubles

The company “Fly Auto,” which rents and leases cars, has filed a 1-billion-ruble ($15.2-million) lawsuit against Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, naming the independent television station Dozhd as a third party in the case. The lawsuit was filed with the Moscow Arbitration Court on September 5, and the court’s website currently specifies only the damages in the claim, not the nature of the complaint.

According to the news agency RIA Novosti, the lawsuit relates to opposition protests in Moscow on July 27, August 3, and August 10. “The plaintiff claims that its losses were the direct result of the defendant’s unlawful activities,” the news agency reported.

Following a series of unpermitted rallies in central Moscow this summer, the city’s subway system, “Mosgortrans,” a taxi service, and the “Armenia” cafe have filed multiple lawsuits against protest organizers for more than 14 million rubles (more than $212,000) in damages. The plaintiffs maintain that they suffered revenue losses due to the opposition's unpermitted demonstrations.

Who’s already suing Moscow's oppositionists — and why?

🚎 Mosgortrans

Which protest? July 27
Claim: 36 delayed bus routes
Damages: 1,218,591.58 rubles (about $18,415)

👷 “Avtomobilnye Dorogi”

Which protest? July 27
Claim: Trucks to block roads, street cleaning after the demonstrations, and infrastructural damage
Damages: 11,468,000 rubles (about $173,280)

🍽️ “Armenia” Cafe

Which protest? July 27
Claim: Lost profits due to forced shutdown and canceled banquet
Damages: 551,847.40 rubles (about $8,340)

🚕 “M.Taxi”

Which protests? July 27, August 3, and August 10
Claim: Work downtime caused by traffic delays
Damages: 787,314 rubles (about $11,900)

🚇 Moscow Subway System

Which protests? July 27
Claim: Seven supervisors needed to be called into work on their day off
Damages: 53,642.20 rubles (about $810)

Total damages: 14,079,393 rubles and 18 kopecks (about $212,740)

Defendants:

Georgy Alburov, Yulia Galyamina, Ivan Zhdanov, Vladimir Milov, Alexey Navalny, Lyubov SObol, Alexander Solovyov, Oleg Stepanov, and Ilya Yashin