Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is a lawyer and anti-corruption activist and has served several stints in jail in recent years for organising protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is in a serious condition after suffering severe symptoms of what his spokeswoman said she believed was deliberate poisoning.
Navalny is unconscious, in intensive care and on an artificial lung ventilator, his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said on social media. "We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed into his tea. It was the only thing that he drank in the morning. Doctors say the toxin was absorbed faster through the hot liquid. Alexei is now unconscious," Yarmysh said.
What happened?
Navalny is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He started feeling ill while returning to capital Moscow from Siberia’s Tomsk on August 19. His aircraft had made an emergency landing in Omsk so that he could be rushed to a hospital. Before boarding the flight, Navalny had drunk tea at a cafe at the Tomsk airport.
The Interfax news agency has quoted the cafe's owners as saying that they were checking CCTV cameras to try and establish what had happened.
The Russian TASS news agency cited the head doctor at a hospital in Omsk confirming that Navalny had been admitted there and saying he was in a serious condition.
Yarmysh drew a parallel with an incident in 2019 in which Navalny suffered an acute allergic reaction that one doctor said could have resulted from poisoning with an unknown chemical. "Obviously the same has been done to him now," said Yarmysh.
She did not say who she believed may have poisoned Navalny, but said police had been called to the hospital.
Who is Navalny?
Navalny is a lawyer and anti-corruption activist and has served several stints in jail in recent years for organising protests against Putin’s government.
The 44-year-old has helped release investigations into what he has said are outrageous examples of official corruption.
Russia will be heading for regional elections in September. Navalny and his allies have been preparing for these polls and trying to get support for candidates they back.
In 2012 and 2014, the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that Russia's arresting and detention of Navalny were politically-motivated and violated his human rights.
(With inputs from Reuters)