ussian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists upon the arrival at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow. Photo: ReutersPolice detained prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on arrival at a Moscow airport after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer. The move, which could see Navalny jailed for 3.5 years for allegedly flouting the terms of a suspended prison sentence, is likely to spark a wave of Western criticism of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny's plane from Berlin was diverted to another Moscow airport at the last minute in an apparent effort by authorities to thwart journalists and supporters greeting him. OVD-Info, a monitoring group, said police had detained 53 people in Moscow and five in St Petersburg.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 17, 2021 18:45 UTC