Despite threat of arrest, Navalny returns to Russia
Police detain several supporters as Putin critic’s plane lands at a different airport
MOSCOW: A plane carrying Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny landed on Sunday night in Moscow, where he faces the threat of arrest. But it landed at a different airport than had been scheduled, a possible attempt to outwit journalists and supporters who wanted to witness the return.
As the Kremlin critic was flying home from Germany after treatment for a poisoning attack, several arrests were made at the airport he was originally scheduled to land in. Navalny returned to Russia for the first time since the near-fatal poisoning in
August, in defiance of warnings from officials they would arrest him for breaking the terms of a suspended prison sentence.
Supporters had gathered at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, where his plane was due to land despite the airport banning mass events citing coronavirus restrictions. The plane eventually landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport instead. The flight was operated by Russian airline Pobeda, owned by state-controlled Aeroflot.
When the plane was still in the air, police detained his top aides including prominent Moscow activist Lyubov Sobol. Footage shot by local journalists showed police leading her and three others away, while there were reports of at least 10 people detained.
The flight carrying Navalny from Germany, where the 44-year-old spent months recovering, took off from Berlin’s
Brandenburg Airport just after 3:15 pm local time. Wearing a blue face mask, green jacket and scarf, Navalny boarded with his wife Yulia. Speaking to reporters on the plane, he said, “This is the best moment in the last five months. I feel great. Finally, I’m returning to my home town.”
Navalny said he did not fear being arrested. “They will arrest me? They will arrest me? That’s impossible, I’m an innocent person,” Navalny said. “I feel I am a citizen of Russia who has the full right to return to his home.”
Navalny fell violently ill on a flight over Siberia in August and was flown out to Berlin in an induced coma. Western experts concluded he was poisoned with Soviet-designed nerve toxin Novichok and Navalny alleges the attack was carried out on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin denies any involvement and Russian investigators said there were no grounds to launch a probe into the attack.
Berlin said Saturday it had responded to requests for legal assistance from Moscow and handed over transcripts of an interview conducted by German police with Navalny.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Sunday confirmed that Russia received the documents sent by Germany but they “essentially didn’t contain anything” on the questions that Moscow had.
Russia’s prison service FSIN says Navalny may face jail time on arrival in Moscow for violating the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence he was handed on fraud charges. It said it would be “obliged” to detain him upon his return to Russia.