Putin critic Navalny unconscious in hospital, poisoning suspected

By Ulf Mauder,


Moscow - By Ulf Mauder, - Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been placed on a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit after falling ill during a plane flight with what appeared to be poisoning symptoms, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.
The Moscow-bound plane with the 44-year-old on board made an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk after Navalny began to feel unwell.
He was taken to hospital from there and placed in intensive care, where he is unconscious, his aide Kira Yarmysh said.

 
"I am sure he was poisoned on purpose," Yarmysh told the radio station Echo Moskvy.
The local health authorities in Omsk confirmed an incident had taken place. Russian news agency Tass cited the chief doctor at the hospital as saying Navalny was in "serious" condition.
Navalny, a well-known anti-corruption fighter and an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, had been repeatedly targeted in the past.
Yarmysh speculated that Navalny may have drunk poisoned tea. She said it was the only drink he had consumed.
Navalny claimed to have been poisoned with a toxic agent last year when he was jailed following a demonstration.
He had been detained along with more than 1,000 people at an opposition protest in central Moscow. A day later he was hospitalized, complaining of eye pain and changes to his skin.
There have been repeated cases of suspected poison attacks in Russian politics in recent years.

 



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