Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP will be hosting a visit from Russian dissident, Ekaterina Schulmann, in the Scottish Parliament following the death of Russian opposition politician, Alexei Navalny.

As a Russian dissident, Ekaterina has been labelled a foreign agent by the Kremlin which means she is unable to work in Russia. She is a high-profile lecturer, a columnist and gives expert commentary to the media. She is also an associate fellow of Chatham House and hosts a YouTube channel on which she commentates on Russian affairs to her 1.2 million subscribers.

On Wednesday, Ekaterina will be delivering a presentation to MSPs and staff about the state of political opposition in Russia and taking questions from the floor.

Mr Cole-Hamilton has called on the UK Government to widen sanctions against those on the “Navalny List”, a group of Russian human rights abusers, kleptocrats and corruptioners who were involved in the poisoning and imprisonment of Alexei Navalny. Mr Cole-Hamilton is also urging the Scottish Government to deliver transparency over who owns land in Scotland.

Speaking ahead of the event, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

I am delighted that Ekaterina will be joining us in Parliament this week. She represents the many brave men and women of Russia, both at home and overseas, who stand in defiance of Putin, who do not recognise his legitimacy and in whose name he does not act.

As we remember the life and murder of a great man, Alexei Navalny, we must reflect on the ways that we, in Scotland, can stand up against Putin’s regime.

The UK Government has still not sanctioned all those named on the Navalny List. Nearly 1 in 5 of those named on the list remain unsanctioned. The government must act immediately to freeze and begin to seize the assets of anyone found to be one of Putin’s enablers.

For years, the SNP’s naivety about Russian influence has run rampant. Disgraced former First Minister Alex Salmond has helped legitimise Putin by hosting a chat show on his propaganda channel and refusing to address the jailing of Navalny. As it stands, the opaque land ownership system in Scotland also allows oligarchs to disguise their vast fortunes.

We may already be in the early days of a new cold war: we must do everything in our power to support free-thinking Russians and close off Putin’s interests and influence in Scotland.