Why did Tsar Nicholas I allow Aleksandr Pushkin to return to Moscow in 1826?

Tsar Nicholas I allowed Aleksandr Pushkin to return to Moscow in 1826 primarily because he was aware of the poet's immense popularity and knew that Pushkin had not participated in the Decembrist conspiracy of 1825.1

Following the suppression of the uprising, the Tsar sought to manage the poet's influence. During a personal meeting, Nicholas I promised to act as Pushkin’s personal censor, effectively replacing the standard censorship process, and discussed his intentions to implement reforms, such as the liberation of the serfs. While Pushkin was sympathetic to the Decembrists, he had come to believe that meaningful reform could only be achieved through the initiative of the Tsar, a perspective that aligned with his interest in the reformist legacy of Peter the Great.1