Alexey Navalny, a fierce Kremlin critic and key figure in the opposition to Russian leadership, was unconscious and on a ventilator Thursday after an alleged poisoning his allies believe was linked to his political stance.
The 44-year-old initially fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Tomsk, a city in Siberia, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter. He started to profusely sweat amid his travels before he was found unconscious in the bathroom, prompting the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Omsk, she told the independent Echo Moskvy radio station
From there, the anti-Kremlin advocate was rushed to a hospital, where he remained unconscious on Thursday.
“He is in a coma in grave condition,” she said on Twitter.
The only thing Navalny consumed during the flight was black tea, which his team believe was used to poison the Kremlin critic.
“We assume that Alexey was poisoned with something mixed into the tea,” Yarmysh added. “It was the only thing that he drank in the morning. Doctors say the toxin was absorbed faster through the hot liquid.”
Navalny, well-known for his Foundation for Fighting Corruption, campaigned against Russian Vladimir Putin in the 2018 presidential election. Before he was barred from running, he set up a network of campaign offices across Russia and has since been putting forward opposition candidates in regional elections — challenging members of Russia’s ruling party, United Russia
The allegations of poisoning stand in contrast to a report from state news agency Tass, which claimed police had ruled out a deliberate poisoning. An unidentified law enforcement told the outlet “it is not unlikely that he drank or consumed something yesterday himself.”
Yarmysh railed against the claim online: “Of course. It’s just the tea was bad. This is what the state propaganda is going to do now — yell that there was no deliberate poisoning, he (did something) accidentally, he (did something) himself.”
Anatoliy Kalinichenko, deputy chief doctor of the Omsk hospital where the politician is being treated, said doctors are considering a variety of diagnosis,but refused to give details, citing doctor-patient confidentiality laws. He confirmed Navalny was in grim but stable condition on Thursday.
As a long-time critic of Putin, Navalny has often found himself at the center of bullying and targeted harassment campaigns. Last year, he was rushed to a hospital from prison where he was serving a sentence following an administrative arrest.
His team at the time similarly suspected poisoning, but doctors said he had a severe allergic reaction and discharged him back to prison the following day.
Navalny has also been arrested on multiple occasions and in 2017 was attacked by several men who threw antiseptic in his face, damaging one eye.
With News Wire Services
