Poisoned Opposition Leader Navalny Arrested on Return to Russia

Five months after his poisoning, Russia’s most prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny travelled back to his home country yesterday where he faced immediate arrest upon his flight touching ground in Moscow. 

Alexei Navalny, 44, returned to Russia after recovering from a near-fatal assassination attempt using a nerve agent, which he believes Russian authorities were responsible for. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin's government denies any involvement in the poisoning. Despite these repeated denials, Navalny’s claims have been corroborated by many independent investigative journalists.

After recovering from the assassination, Navalny vowed to return to Russia despite warnings that he would face immediate arrest. Prior to landing, the flight was directed away from Vnukovo airport, where thousands of Navalny’s supporters had gathered, to Sheremetyevo airport due to ‘technical reasons’. Upon landing, Navalny reportedly said ‘I know that I'm right. I fear nothing,’ and asked a border guard: ‘Have you been waiting for me long?’

He was escorted from the plane by the police, who stated there would be violence if he did not comply. Despite requests, Navalny’s lawyer was not allowed to accompany him. He was taken to Moscow Police Station where he is currently being detained.

The justification for the arrest was that he "had been wanted since 29 December 2020 for repeated violations of the probation period". Navalny had previously been convicted for embezzlement, for which he received a suspended sentence. He has consistently insisted that the case was politically motivated. In a separate case, Russian prosecutors have launched a new investigation into fraud charges in relation to transfers of money to various charities including his own ‘Anti-Corruption Foundation’.

Navalny’s return appears to be a direct challenge to Putin, who faces a difficult decision of how to deal with his political opponent. If they do nothing, the Moscow government’s most ardent critic will be able to undermine their legitimacy in an important election year. If they take harsh action against him, they risk turning him into a martyr, which opposition to the Putin regime can rally around. 

The assassination attempt

On 20th August 2020, Navalny became extremely unwell on a domestic flight between Tomsk and Moscow, forcing the airplane to land prematurely. Navalny was rushed to an Omsk hospital where he fell into a coma and had to be put on a ventilator. 

Despite doctors initially believing that he was suffering from a metabolic disorder caused by low blood sugar, they later stated that he had been poisoned after detecting chemicals such as 2-Ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate in his blood, skin and urine. Initially, it was assumed that the poison had been added to his cup of tea, the only thing he had consumed that morning.

A few hours later, Navalny’s wife, Yulia, arrived at the hospital with his personal doctor. Despite initially refusing his wife and doctor to see him, the medical staff allowed them access and for Navalny to be evacuated to Germany. His wife did not trust that he would be adequately treated in Russia. Still in a coma on arrival in Germany, Navalny was able to gradually recover from the poisoning. By 22nd September, he was deemed well enough to be discharged from hospital. 

The investigation

The investigation began after employees at the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) learned of Navalny’s poisoning. The FBK is a charity founded by Navalny, which investigates corruption offences among some of the highest authorities in Russia. 

FBK employees were granted permission from the hotel where Navalny stayed before his flight to search his room after claiming that he could have been poisoned with "something from the minibar". The search of the room was filmed and conducted in front of both a lawyer and the hotel’s administration staff. His staff took his remaining possessions in the hotel room, as well as some plastic water bottles, with them on the plane to Germany.

The Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology were able to detect traces of Novichok on Navalny. Traces were also found on one of the water bottles from his hotel room, suggesting that he was poisoned prior to his flight and had drunk from the water bottles after being poisoned. German newspapers reported that "a new and improved version of the Novichok agent, which has not been encountered in the world before" was used. This new form of Novichok is more toxic and deadly but acts more slowly. German authorities concluded that only the Russian special services would have access to such a “deadly and complex poison”.

In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Navalny posed as an assistant of the Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, who was conducting an ‘investigation’ as to why the assassination failed. In the video, his supposed assassin Konstantin Kudryavtsev confessed involvement, confirmed who he collaborated with, and how they had conducted the assassination attempt. He explained that the attempt had failed for three reasons: they had not anticipated that the emergency landing would be so swift, that the Russian doctors would administer him with atropine so soon after arrival and that he would be flown to Germany to receive treatment.

After a preliminary investigation, Russian prosecutors stated that there was no need for a criminal investigation, as there was no sign that a crime had been committed.

Correction: changed to reflect that Navalny was rushed to an 'Omsk' hospital, not a Moscow hospital.