Russia’s prison service has ordered opposition leader Alexei Navalny to return to Moscow by Tuesday morning or face jail if he returns past the deadline, Reuters reports.
The state of play: Navalny, one of Russia's most prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin, has been in Germany since he was airlifted there while recovering from an attempted poisoning attempt.
- An investigation by the website Bellingcat found this month that Navalny was tailed by a chemical weapons team from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) before his poisoning.
- Last week, it was revealed that Navalny had duped one of the FSB agents accused of tailing him into detailing on a phone call how the botched operation was carried out. The Kremlin has denied having any role in the poisoning and claims it hasn't seen evidence Navalny was poisoned.
Details: The Federal Prison Service (FSIN) on Monday accused Navalny of violating the terms of a suspended prison term he has been serving since 2014 for a theft case he claims was politically motivated.
- Navalny's lawyer said there is no way he can return to Moscow by Tuesday and accused the FSIN of acting on the orders of the Kremlin, per Reuters.
- Navalny has been arrested several times for his anti-government protests. His probation period expires on Dec. 30.
Go deeper: Russian security officer duped into revealing poisoning plot to Navalny
