Alexei Navalny, the leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has just been arrested on his return to Moscow – five months after he nearly died from a government-led poison attack.
Navalny fell ill at a Siberian airport before boarding a flight to Moscow last August. His team did not believe that Russian hospitals had cared for him properly or done enough to find out what had happened to him. Therefore, with the help of a Berlin humanitarian group, they moved to Germany to recover. A top chemical weapons watchdog confirmed last October that Navalny had been poisoned by novichok, a deadly nerve agent known to the Russian government as using political opponents.
Navalny stayed in Germany for months, working with journalists on what happened to him, while always promising to return to Russia. A report by CNN and Bellingcat clearly implicates the Russian government as having almost killed Navalny, and appears to involve Putin in the poisoning, as such an operation would almost certainly require Putin’s approval. And in YouTube videos that have been viewed more than 40 million times, Navalny directly accuses the Kremlin of trying to kill him.
Since then, Putin’s government has done everything in its power to ward off Navalny.
Late last year, Russia placed him on its federal search list, claiming to have avoided inspectors abroad. As part of a 2014 sentencing hearing in a case of embezzlement, Navalny had to regularly check in with those federal authorities. Navalny claims that the charge for the embezzlement is politically motivated.
Even with the threat of arrest, Navalny flew to Moscow on Sunday while allaying fears that he would be detained upon his arrival. ‘It’s impossible“He told people on board his flight, although Russian authorities had told him he would be subject to arrest. “I feel like a citizen of Russia who has every right to return to my home.”
It was not impossible: Video shows an official – it is unclear from which security service – Navalny approached at the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow (he was originally supposed to arrive at another airport, but his flight was unexpectedly diverted) near passport control. Navalny then kisses his wife, Yulia, before going with the officer and other guards.
Navalny’s lawyer is not allowed to accompany him because he apparently went through customs. The country’s federal prison service says now Navalny will be detained pending a court hearing due to the alleged violation of his probation.
These kinds of things are not new to Navalny. As already mentioned, he has been arrested before – and even poisoned before – so it is possible that he will eventually be released and again lead to the leadership of Russia’s anti-Putin movement. Sometimes the Kremlin Navalny just wants to remind those responsible, and slow down its work, in a way that tries to maintain the illusion of Russian democracy.
But it is also possible that Putin had it, especially since he wants to stay in power for life. The removal of his most important political mistake would certainly facilitate such a ploy, although it would condemn other nations, including the United States, which was newly led by Pres. Joe Biden, can condemn.
Hours after detention of Navalny, incoming national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted a statement condemning the detention of the Putin critic. “Mr Navalny must be released immediately, and the perpetrators of the outrageous attack on his life must be held accountable,” he wrote.
If the Navalny team is worried, they are not showing their concerns in public. “He’s not scared. I am not afraid either and I call on all of you not to be afraid, ” Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s wife told supporters outside the airport.