The Kremlin Misread Navalny’s Resolve to Fight, Even From Prison

Authorities plan harsh crackdown now that activist back home
Supporters hope arrest will raise domestic, international heat

Alexey Navalny boards a flight from Berlin to Moscow on Jan. 17. — Alexey Navalny boards a flight from Berlin to Moscow on Jan. 17.Photographer: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

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By Irina Reznik, Henry Meyer, and Stepan Kravchenko

January 21, 2021 at 11:00 PM EST

Updated on

January 22, 2021 at 7:13 AM EST

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Russian officials were convinced opposition leader Alexey Navalny wouldn’t come back.

They’d warned he’d be jailed on arrival and steadily ratcheted up threats of new probes, amid allegations ranging from stealing supporters’ donations to working for U.S. intelligence. Even fellow Kremlin critics told the 44-year-old activist it was too dangerous to return from Berlin, where he’d been recovering from a nerve-agent attack he and Western capitals blamed on President Vladimir Putin.

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The Kremlin Misread Navalny’s Resolve to Fight, Even From Prison