Russia expels Germany, Poland, Sweden diplomats for attending 'illegal' rallies demanding release of Navalny

Russia has expelled three European diplomats from Germany, Poland, and Sweden for participating in "illegal" rallies demanding the release of President Vladimir Putin's biggest critic Alexey Navalny.

According to an official statement, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had made formal protests to the embassies of Germany, Poland and Sweden.

Representatives of these countries are said to have participated in mass-demonstrations that saw thousands take to the streets in cities across Russia over the past two weeks, Russia Today reported.

As per the officials, the diplomats have been made "personae non grata" and "ordered to leave the territory of the Russian Federation as soon as possible."

Politicians across the world have condemned the Moscow Court's sentence of Navalny and called for his release.

A Moscow court on Tuesday sent Navalny to prison for more than two-and-a-half years.

CNN reported the verdict was announced after a heated hearing in which the Kremlin critic ridiculed claims he broke his parole conditions while in a coma and denounced Russia's leader as "Putin the prisoner."

The Putin critic was previously handed a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence in the 2014 case along with five years of probation. He had to spend five months in Germany recovering from Novichok poisoning before his return to Moscow on January 17.

( With inputs from ANI )