Shortly after
police detained
Russian opposition leader and
Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny upon his return to
Moscow from
Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning allegedly carried out by Russia's FSB spy agency, President-elect Joe Biden's incoming National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called for the anti-corruption activist's immediate release.
Sullivan said the Kremlin's actions were a "violation of human rights" and "an affront to the Russian people who want their voices heard."
The forceful statement quickly drew attention from members of the U.S. media, who compared it to the Trump administration's generally more lax approach to Moscow.
Sullivan also beat the current
White House to the punch — there's been no word on the Navalny situation from
President Trump,
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, or National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien as of yet.