A Russian court on Thursday imposed one year of restrictions on Ms. Anastasia Vasilyeva, a doctor who treated and supported Putin's critic Mr. Alexei Navalny, after finding her guilty of breaching Wuhan virus safety rules.

Ms. Vasilyeva, head of the Doctors Alliance trade union, was convicted for urging people to join a protest earlier this year to demand the release of Mr Navalny, Russian leader's Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic critic, from prison.

The authorities said her behaviour at the time was irresponsible and illegal given a Wuhan virus-related ban on large public gatherings. Ms. Vasilyeva said her prosecution was politically-motivated.

The ruling bans her from travelling outside Moscow, from leaving her home at night or attending mass events and compels her to check in twice a month with a state supervisor, the court said in a statement.

The ruling does not prohibit her from using her mobile phone or the internet, a restriction she had faced while being prosecuted.

Ms. Vasilyeva treated Navalny in 2017 after he suffered a chemical burn to his right eye after being assaulted by pro-Kremlin activists. She also supported him publicly after his arrest earlier this year on parole violations he said were trumped up to thwart his political ambitions.

Her relationship with his team later soured after many of them fled into exile amid a broad crackdown.

Many of Ms. Navalny’s allies have been prosecuted on the same charge as Ms. Vasilyeva.

Russia declared Vasilyeva’s doctor’s union a “foreign agent” in March, a designation that subjects it to bureaucratic scrutiny and spot checks.