Russian Opposition Figure Navalny Hospitalized Over Suspected Poisoning

By Staff, Agencies

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was admitted to an intensive care unit on Thursday over suspected poisoning, his press secretary Kira Yarmysh announced via Twitter.

"This morning Navalny was returning to Moscow from Tomsk. He felt unwell during the flight. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. Alexei has toxic poisoning. We are in an ambulance now", she tweeted, adding that at the moment Navaly is unconscious.

"He was connected to an artificial lung ventilator. We have requested to bring the police to the hospital", the press secretary added.

According to her, Navalny could have been poisoned by something added to his tea, as it was the only thing he had this morning.

"Alexei Navalny is the intensive care unit, his condition is grave", chief doctor Alexander Murakhovsky said, according to Sputnik.

She also claimed that this is not the first time he's been poisoned. In 2019, after being arrested for his calls for supporters to take part in an unauthorized rally in the center of Moscow, Navalny was hospitalized with a diagnosis of an acute allergic reaction. Medics, however, were unable to detect what exactly caused the condition.

Navalny who founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation has been arrested several times and was even briefly jailed in July 2013 on embezzlement charges. In December 2016, Navalny announced his decision to run for the presidency during the 2018 election but was barred by Russia's Central Electoral Commission due to his previous convictions.