A Moscow court on Friday placed opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months.
On Wednesday, the Investigative Committee accused Navalny of repeatedly breaching the travel restrictions that were placed on him as part of a fraud inquiry and asked for the constraints to be tightened.
The Basmanny District Court granted the request, which bars Navalny from using telephones, sending and receiving mail, and using the Internet without permission investigators, Lenta.ru reported.
He is also prohibited from commenting on the criminal case brought against him and will be allowed contact only with his family during the two months.
Navalny and his brother Oleg are being investigated on suspicion of defrauding the Russian branch of French cosmetics company Yves Rocher out of 26 million rubles ($720,000).
A reporter from Slon.ru cited Navalny as saying on Friday that the investigators' demands were aimed at clamping down on his political and social media activities.
He is currently serving out a seven-day jail sentence for disobeying police orders at an unauthorized rally in Moscow in support of the defendants in the so-called Bolotnaya case on Monday.
Investigators said in January that Navalny had violated his bail terms by traveling out of Moscow's city limits and into the surrounding Moscow region.
However, Navalny insisted that the authorities had amended the restrictions to let him go to the Moscow region.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.