#Alexei Navalny’s next heroic act

Outspoken Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny is set to walk back into the lion’s den four months after being airflighted to Germany following a Soviet-style nerve agent assassination attempt.

And he’s not returning quietly.

“There was never a question for me whether to return or not, never. Just because I didn’t leave. I ended up in Germany, having arrived there in an intensive care box. On January 17, Sunday, I will return home on Pobeda airline flight. Meet me,” Navalny tweeted Wednesday.

It’s the height of bravery. Especially knowing that the poison attack was the work of top Russian officials. Now Putin’s minions are asking a court to replace Navalny’s suspended sentence in a years-old case with real jail time. On Tuesday, they also launched a fraud investigation into the opposition leader, alleging that he spent nearly $5 million in donations to his various organizations on himself. (It’s a charge Navalny denies.)

“They are doing everything to scare me. But what they are doing there is not of much interest to me. Russia is my country, Moscow is my city, I miss them,” Navalny said.

We admire his courage, and Russia should know that the world is watching.