■ Alexei Navalny’s appeal of his prison sentence was rejected.

MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Saturday rejected Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s appeal of his prison sentence, even as the country faced an order from a top European rights court to free the Kremlin’s most prominent foe.

A few hours later, a judge in a separate case ordered Navalny to pay a fine for defaming a World War II veteran.

During the first court hearing, Navalny urged Russians to stand up to the Kremlin in a fiery speech.

Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption crusader and President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities reject the accusation.

This month, Navalny was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for violating terms of his probation while convalescing in Germany. He appealed the sentence and asked to be released. A Moscow City Court judge instead reduced the prison sentence to just over 2½ years, deducting a month-and-a-half that Navalny spent under house arrest in early 2015.

The sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has rejected as fabricated and the European Court of Human Rights has ruled to be unlawful.

In his speech at the hearing, Navalny urged Russians to resist pressure from authorities and challenge the Kremlin to build a fairer and more prosperous country.

Navalny also addressed the judge and the prosecutor.

“Just imagine how wonderful life would be without constant lying,” he said. “Imagine how great it would be to work as a judge … when no one would be able to call you and give you directions what verdicts to issue.”

Alexei Navalny