Kremlin critic Navalny held
Police pounce after he lands in Moscow
Police detained top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny when he flew back to Russia on Sunday, months after barely surviving a poisoning attack.
Mr Navalny was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport less than an hour after he flew in from Germany, where he had been recovering from the poisoning with a nerve agent he says was ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
The United States, European Union, several EU governments, Canada and a senior aide to US President-elect Joe Biden immediately called for his release, with some in the EU urging new sanctions against Moscow.
Rights groups joined the calls, with Amnesty International saying Mr Navalny had become a prisoner of conscience and accusing Russian authorities of waging “a relentless campaign” to silence him.
European Council president Charles Michel wrote on Twitter that Mr Navalny’s detention was “unacceptable”, while the French foreign ministry said the arrest caused “very strong concern”.
“Mr Navalny should be immediately released, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable,” Mr Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added that America “strongly condemns” the arrest, noting with “grave concern” that Mr Navalny’s detention was the latest attempt to silence voices critical of Russia’s government.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hit back on Facebook, telling foreign leaders to “respect international law” and “deal with the problems in your own country”.
Mr Navalny, 44, was met by uniformed police at passport control after his Berlin flight touched down in Moscow.
He embraced his wife Yulia, who was travelling with him, and was led away; aides said later he was being held at a police station nearby.
Russia’s FSIN prison service said it had detained Mr Navalny for “multiple violations” of a 2014 suspended sentence for fraud, adding that “he will be held in custody” until a court ruling.
The FSIN said it had previously warned Mr Navalny he would be arrested for failing to meet probation conditions while in Germany, including that he check in with the service twice a month.
Speaking at the airport before his detention, Mr Navalny said he did not fear being arrested. “I know I’m in the right. I know that the criminal cases against me are fabricated,” he said.
His plane landed at Sheremetyevo after a dramatic last-minute diversion from another Moscow airport, Vnukovo, where several hundred of his supporters and media had been waiting.
Several of his associates were also taken into custody at the airport while the plane was in the air.
Mr Navalny fell violently ill on a flight over Siberia in August and was flown to Berlin in an induced coma. Western experts concluded he was poisoned with Soviet-designed nerve toxin Novichok, a claim denied by the Kremlin.