UK Demands Release of Putin Critic Alexei Navalny

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is seen on board a plane before the departure for the Russian capital Moscow at an airport in Berlin on Jan. 17, 2021. Polina Ivanova/Reuters

The UK government on Monday joined international calls for Russia to release opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who was detained on Sunday.

Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was detained on arrival at a Moscow airport after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer.