What happens to Vladimir Putin’s opponent after his arrest depends on what officials think they can get away with

Since Alexei Navalny emerged as a top critic of Vladimir Putin more than a decade ago, the Kremlin has done its utmost to smother him: tying him up in courtrooms, locking him down under house arrest, and taking his brother as hostage by sentencing him to a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Finally, a decision appeared to have been taken to eliminate him when he was allegedly poisoned by Russia’s FSB spy agency. With that operation a failure and Navalny defying the Kremlin to return to Moscow, Putin’s dilemma remains what to do with one of his most stalwart and effective critics.

Opposition figure picked up after landing in home country following recovery from poisoning

The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on his return from treatment abroad after a suspected poisoning attempt on his life by Russia’s FSB spy agency.

Navalny, whose investigations into corruption in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle have sparked protests and angered the country’s most powerful men, had vowed to return home despite signs the Kremlin was preparing to arrest him.

The prominent Kremlin critic, poisoned in August, is under investigation for allegedly mishandling $5m private donations

Russian authorities have ramped up the pressure on the prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny by levelling new fraud accusations against him.

The Investigative Committee, Russia’s main investigative agency, said on Tuesday it had opened a new criminal case against Navalny on charges of large-scale fraud related to his alleged mishandling of $5m in private donations to his Anti-Corruption Foundation and other organisations.