Alexei Navalny Returns To Moscow After Recovering From Novichok Poisoning, Is Arrested At The Airport

Russian police detained top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny at a Moscow airport on January 17. Navalny was detained at passport control at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport less than an hour after he flew in from Berlin in defiance of warnings that he faced imminent arrest. His detention prompted immediate condemnation from the European Union & calls for EU sanctions against Russia by Lithuania. Navalny's plane landed at Sheremetyevo after a dramatic last-minute diversion from another Moscow airport, where several of his top allies were detained while waiting for him to arrive. Supporters of the 44-year-old had gathered at Vnukovo despite the airport banning mass events because of coronavirus restrictions. 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 Putin's orders. Kremlin denies any involvement and Russian investigators said there were no grounds to launch a probe into the attack.