Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has complained of torture in a Russian penal colony, months after he was poisoned in a nerve agent attack he blames on President Vladimir Putin.
Here is a timeline:
– Coma –
The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner is hospitalised on August 20, 2020 in Omsk, Siberia, after losing consciousness on a flight.
Put into a medically induced coma, he is transferred two days later to a Berlin hospital at his family’s request.
– Novichok –
Berlin says on September 2 that tests carried out by a German army laboratory yielded “unequivocal evidence” that he was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-era chemical weapon.
The European Union and NATO demand an investigation.
– Kremlin denial –
Two days later the Kremlin rejects claims that it was behind the poisoning.
On September 7 Navalny emerges from the coma.
– Labs confirm poisoning –
French and Swedish laboratories confirm Germany’s findings that Novichok was used.
Putin condemns “unsubstantiated” accusations.
– Putin accused –
Navalny accuses Putin of being behind his poisoning after he is discharged from hospital on September 22.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov calls his claims “groundless and unacceptable”.
– Spooks stung –
Navalny releases a recording in October of him tricking a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agent into confessing that he tried to kill him.
The FSB describes the phone call as a “provocation”.
– Defiant return –
Navalny says he plans to return home despite a threat of jail.
He is detained on January 17 shortly after landing in Moscow.
He urges Russians to “take to the streets”.
– ‘Putin’s palace’ –
Navalny releases a video of his investigation into a lavish Black Sea property he claims is owned by Putin.
It goes viral as Putin denies it is his.
The authorities round up Navalny’s allies.
– Protests and prison –
In late January tens of thousands of demonstrators demand Navalny’s release.
Police detain thousands.
On February 2 Navalny is handed a near three-year prison term.
The West calls for his immediate release.
– Diplomatic crisis –
On February 5, the Kremlin expels German, Swedish and Polish diplomats for supporting Navalny.
The three countries expel Russian diplomats in return.
– Rights court weighs in –
The European Court of Human Rights orders Russia to release Navalny “with immediate effect” on February 17. Russia accuses it of “interference”.
– Appeal denied –
Three days later a Moscow court dismisses Navalny’s appeal, reducing the sentence to two-and-a-half years.
Separately he is convicted of defamation and fined 850,000 rubles (around 9,500 euros).
The EU on February 22 sanctions four senior Russian officials.
– Penal colony –
On February 26 Navalny is sent to a penal colony. Authorities say he is in the Vladimir region some 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Moscow.
Washington on March 2 sanctions seven senior Russians and says its intelligence concluded that Moscow was behind Navalny’s poisoning.
– ‘Torture’ –
Navalny says on March 15 he is locked up in a “real concentration camp”.
On March 25, a lawyer says after visiting him in prison says Navalny is in great pain, adding that allies fear for his life.
In a formal complaint, Navalny accuses Russian authorities of torture by depriving him of sleep in prison.