Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is in a coma and on a
ventilator in a hospital in Siberia after falling ill from suspected poisoning
during a flight, his spokeswoman said Thursday.
Kira Yarmysh said on Thursday that Navalny, 44, was flying from Siberia to
Moscow after a work trip to Tomsk when his plane made an emergency landing
after he fell ill.
He is now in grave condition in the intensive care unit for toxicology
patients in Emergency Hospital No 1 in the Siberian city of Omsk, according to
the TASS state news agency.
“Alexei has toxic poisoning,” she wrote on Twitter. “Alexei
is now in intensive care.”
“We think that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed in his tea.
That was the only thing he drank in the morning,” Yarmysh said. “Doctors
say the poison was quickly absorbed through the hot liquid.”
She told the Echo Moskvy radio station that Navalny was sweating on the
plane and asked her to talk to him so that he could “focus on a sound of a
voice”. He then went to the bathroom and lost consciousness.
Navalny, 44, is in grave condition, TASS said, citing the head doctor of
the hospital.
“Alexei is still unconscious. He was put under ventilator. Police were
called to the hospital on our demand,” said Yarmysh.
Yarmysh said she believed the suspected poisoning was connected to this
year’s regional election campaign.
Navalny known for his anti-corruption campaigns against top officials and
outspoken criticism of President Vladimir Putin, has suffered physical attacks
in the past.
Last year, Navalny was rushed to a hospital from prison where he was
serving a sentence following an administrative arrest, with what his team said
was suspected poisoning. Doctors then said he had a severe allergic attack and
discharged him back to prison the following day.
He also endured chemical burns to his eye in 2017 when attackers threw
green dye used as a disinfectant at his face outside his office.
The charismatic lawyer and whistle-blower, has been travelling the country
to promote a tactical voting strategy to oppose pro-Putin candidates in more
than 30 regional elections in September.
He has been the target of multiple criminal probes while his
Anti-Corruption Foundation is regularly raided by police and investigators.
He has served numerous terms in police cells for organising illegal
protests.
Last month, the politician had to shut the foundation after a financially
devastating lawsuit from Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with close ties to
the Kremlin.
The most prominent member of Russia’s opposition, Navalny campaigned to
challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but was barred from running.