Navalny leaves Berlin: "I'm innocent, I'm not afraid of arrest"

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January 17, 2021 "I am innocent, I am not afraid of arrest" in Russia.

This was stated by the Russian opponent Alexey Navalny at the Berlin airport from where he left for Moscow, where he risks being arrested.

Alexey Navalny, now the Kremlin's number one public enemy, returns to Russia after almost five months of stay in Germany following the poisoning with Novichok suffered last August 20 in Siberia.

The opponent is expected to land at the Moscow airport of Vnukovo at 19:20 local time, disembarking from a low-cost Pobeda flight (Aeroflot group).

The Russian prison service has already made it known that he will be "forced to arrest him" because, in these months of exile and rehabilitation in Berlin, he violated the terms of probation linked to the suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case, for which he will now have to serve more 3 years of effective prison.

In addition, an investigation for embezzlement worth almost 4 million euros hangs on him: accusations that Navalny rejects and defines as "politically motivated".

The prince of the Russian opposition urged his supporters to "meet" him at the airport and a group of about 2 thousand people has formed on Facebook who say they want to respond to his desire.

But the authorities have already warned that mass gatherings at the airport will not be tolerated and journalists have been banned from using cameras and cameras inside the airport.

Groups opposing Navalny are also planning to join a nationalist movement that promises to welcome him with "zelyonka", a bright green antiseptic solution commonly found in Russia (used several times to attack Navalny).

The Moscow Times reports.

Police officers in St. Petersburg arrested several activists who were preparing to go to Moscow to receive Aleksei Navalny.

This was announced by the radio station Echo of Moscow.

Among those arrested are the coordinator of the Navalny organization in St. Petersburg, Irina Fatianova, and the activist Ilia Gantvar;

both were arrested as they were about to board a train bound for Moscow.

Meanwhile, security measures at Moscow's Vnukovo airport are intensifying in view of Navalny's arrival.

Several vans are parked outside the airport to transport detainees.

Navalny returns from Germany, after the period of convalescence following the attempted poisoning in August with a nerve agent, a poisoning for which he accused the Kremlin, which has always denied any involvement.

Navalny accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to prevent him from returning with the threat of arrest.