PUTIN CRITIC ALLOWED TO FLY FOR EYE CARE

LONDON Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, has travelled to Spain for eye surgery after a dye attack severely damaged his vision.

“The doctor in Barcelona said he will try to treat my eye and I had the operation,” Navalny said Tuesday on Instagram. “Sadly, I’ve been told I will only recover my sight in several months.”

Navalny, 40, suffered burns after an attacker hurled zelyonka, a green dye, in his face April 27. The burn left him with only 20 per cent vision in his right eye.

The opposition leader, who intends to challenge Vladimir Putin for the Russian presidency next year, had been unable to leave Russia since his passport was withdrawn in 2013.

He is serving a suspended sentence for fraud, after a conviction he says is politically motivated.

He received a new passport last week.