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The plane with Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on board landed in Moscow.

Moscow's Vnukovo airport was unexpectedly closed to incoming flights before landing.

The plane was diverted to Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport.

After a passport control at the terminal, Navalny was initially taken away by several police officers.

Just before that, he hugged his wife.

According to the Reuters news agency, a lawyer for the politician confirmed that the Kremlin critic had been arrested.

Before the flight took off, Navalny said he was not afraid of being arrested because he was innocent.

Therefore an arrest is "impossible".

Rather, as a Russian citizen, he has the right to return to his homeland.

However, the Russian judiciary has put Navalny out to be wanted.

During his stay in Germany, he is said to have violated probation requirements in previous criminal proceedings.

His wife Julia accompanied Navalny

Source: dpa / Mstyslav Chernov

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Five months after being poisoned, Navalny began his journey home from Germany to Russia.

"I am happy.

I hope that we all arrive together, ”said Navalny on Sunday on the plane, as the Internet channel Doschd showed.

The plane operated by the Russian company Pobeda took off from BER Airport in Berlin in the afternoon - with a delay of more than half an hour.

The plane with flight number DP 936 was originally supposed to land at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport at 5:20 p.m. CET (7:20 p.m. local time).

There police officers took massive action against supporters of Navalny.

There were several arrests.

Among those arrested at Vnukovo Airport were Navalny's closest colleague, lawyer Lyubov Sobol, and other activists

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The prominent opposition politician was the victim of an attack with the neurotoxin Novitschok in Russia on August 20 and was then treated at the Charité.

Pizzas hold a man at the terminal of Moscow Vnukovo Airport.

However, the plane was diverted to another airport

Source: dpa / Dmitry Serebryakov

Kremlin criticizes federal government

Meanwhile, Russia criticized the responses from the German judiciary to requests for legal aid to the poison attack on the Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny on Sunday as being unhelpful.

"I saw the headlines that Germany answered all of Russia's questions," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Sakharova on state television.

"The problem is, as always, it (the answer) did not contain anything relevant to the questions asked."

The Federal Office of Justice had previously stated that it had answered four Russian requests for legal assistance regarding the attack on Navalny, shortly before the opposition member made his way back to Moscow on Sunday.

Among other things, minutes of an interrogation by the Berlin public prosecutor's office had been transmitted, said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Justice.

“The German government assumes that the Russian government will immediately take all necessary steps to investigate the crime against Mr Navalny.

This crime must be investigated in Russia. ”Navalny also repeatedly called for investigations into the case.

However, Russia denies that there was any poisoning or crime.