Read on Twitter
Today, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny flew home to Moscow for the first time after he was poisoned with a nerve agent.
We followed him from his take-off in Berlin to his detention at the Russian border. Here's a rundown of what happened:
We followed him from his take-off in Berlin to his detention at the Russian border. Here's a rundown of what happened:
By Terminal 5 of Berlin airport, a crowd of journalists began to gather from the morning. https://twitter.com/polinaivanovva/status/1350749870416654341?s=20
Passengers also began to turn up. Some were confused by their enthusiastic welcome party. Some had heard Navalny could be on their flight. Others were his supporters, who had bought tickets for the flight especially.
Someone brought a banner: Alexei, good luck
In short: it was a long wait, and Navalny never showed.
He came onboard directly. Asked if he was afraid, he answered wryly: "What should I be afraid of? What's the worst that could happen?"
He came onboard directly. Asked if he was afraid, he answered wryly: "What should I be afraid of? What's the worst that could happen?"
Meanwhile, over a thousand of his supporters had gathered in Vnukovo airport, where the flight was due to arrive. So did a bunch of police trucks, and fans of a pop star who was suddenly to give a show there (though i got a bit lost at this bit in the tale) https://twitter.com/Kira_Yarmysh/status/1350793927163596801
The flight itself, Berlin->Moscow: https://twitter.com/polinaivanovva/status/1350808412842549249?s=20
Took some snaps along the way.
Moments after the plane began to land in Vnukovo - the pilot announced a change of plan. It looked a bit like this: https://twitter.com/m_tsvetkova/status/1350899256576630787
Finally landed. Here's another iphone snap, taken as Navalny exits onto the runway
He headed to border control -- where he was detained. This was the scene https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1350866040604024832
Navalny remained in transit zone. Yulya, his wife, entered the airport to a crowd of supporters chanting her name
Read our full report: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN29M022
