Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took off on a plane bound for Russia on Sunday, to return home for the first time since he was poisoned last summer, despite Russian authorities' stated desire to arrest him and potentially jail him for years.
"This is the best moment in the last five months," he told reporters after he boarded the plane in the German capital, bound for Moscow.
The 44-year-old, who boarded a plane in Berlin at the last minute from a car sitting on the tarmac, hence avoiding other passengers, made light of the risk of being arrested.
"I feel like a citizen of Russia who has every right to return," he added.
Navalny, who is hoping for success in parliamentary elections in September, faces potential trouble in three other criminal cases too, all of which he says are politically motivated.
Persons:
Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin's, I'm, Yulia, Navalny
Organizations:
Russian
Locations:
Russia, Berlin, Moscow, Germany