Russian protest leader Alexei Navalny attends a court hearing in Kirov on July 18. Navalny was found guilty of theft on Thursday at a trial he says is politically motivated because of his opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

A Russian judge sentenced Navalny to five years in prison on Thursday after convicting him of large-scale theft in a trial Navalny said was politically motivated.

Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's biggest critics, was led away from court by law enforcement officers after the judge pronounced the sentence in the industrial city of Kirov. Prosecutors had asked for a six-year sentence.

Photo: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin