Alexei Navalny, a critic of the Russian government who was allegedly poisoned with a nerve agent last year, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. At the hearing on Monday, prosecutors said he had violated the parole terms of a suspended sentence for embezzlement.

The Russian opposition figure, 44, had been arrested on Sunday upon arrival at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. Russia's prison service said last week that Navalny, who blamed his poisoning on the Kremlin, faces immediate arrest once he returns. Russia's government has repeatedly denied a role in the poisoning.

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In December, the country's Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) warned that Navalny would be imprisoned if he failed to report to its office in line with the terms of a suspended sentence and probation. Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader was convicted in 2014 of embezzlement and money laundering, a charge he denies. 

As per the judge's ruling, Navalny will be detained until February 15. He will have another hearing on January 29 to decide whether his suspended sentence of three-and-a-half years should be replaced with a jail term.
 

Western nations demanded Russia free the opposition politician, with some countries calling for new sanctions. Moscow has told them that is an internal matter. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the arrest, stating: "Detention of political opponents is against Russia's international commitments."

The condemnation was echoed across European capitals, with the foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany, among others, attacking the Kremlin and demanding Navalny be released. 

In a press conference on Monday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the reactions of Western politicians to the arrest "read like they've been copied and pasted," adding that they are seeking to "distract attention from the deepest crisis that their liberal model has ever seen."

Navalny had spent five months in Berlin recovering from, according to German doctors, being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. 

Ahead of his journey back to Russia, Navalny said at a Berlin airport, "They will arrest me? They will arrest me? That's impossible, I'm an innocent person. I feel I am a citizen of Russia who has the full right to return to his home."