Cause of Navalny illness may be unknown for days, aide says
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Moscow/Berlin — Alexei Navalny, the Russian anti-corruption campaigner who has been in a coma since Thursday, is being examined at a German hospital and it may be days before officials can confirm or reject accusations that he was poisoned.
Navalny was in a “very critical” but stable condition, according to an ally who helped organise his evacuation from Russia to Berlin’s Charite hospital on Saturday. The results of the tests and a prognosis may not be available for several days, Leonid Volkov, his chief of staff, said in a Facebook post.
His sudden and severe illness has raised suspicions after a string of Kremlin critics have become victims of poisoning.
Dissident security service officer Alexander Litvinenko died in London after consuming tea laced with polonium in 2006 and former spy Sergei Skripal survived an assassination attempt with a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok, in Salisbury, England, in 2018. UK officials linked both attacks to the Russian state.
“Much speaks for poisoning frankly,” Thomas Daldrup, a forensic toxicologist from the University of Düsseldorf, said.
“If the substance was intended to do its damage and then decay quickly in the body, then it may be difficult to establish a forensic picture of the attack. A strong initial hunch would be insulin toxication, an attack by a substance that altered the insulin blood level, made it go haywire.”
Members of Navalny’s team postponed a briefing planned for Sunday, Volkov said on Facebook, without giving a reason or setting a new date.
Navalny was under close surveillance by Russian security services during his visit to the Siberian city of Tomsk just before he fell ill, Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) reported, citing security sources.
The newspaper published a detailed record of Navalny’s movements and meetings in the city, including a visit to a “secret” flat, rented by one of his supporters, to edit opposition videos. Investigators haven’t not identified any contacts that could have led to a poisoning, MK said.
“Only time will tell what the outcome is,” Jaka Bizilj, co-founder of the Cinema for Peace group that facilitated Navalny’s move, said in a phone interview on Saturday. “If he survives, will he be the old Navalny? We’re completely in the dark right now.”
Russian authorities allowed Navalny to be transported from the hospital in Omsk, Siberia, after his family, activists and international leaders appealed directly to President Vladimir Putin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said ...
Navalny was in a “very critical” but stable condition, according to an ally who helped organise his evacuation from Russia to Berlin’s Charite hospital on Saturday. The results of the tests and a prognosis may not be available for several days, Leonid Volkov, his chief of staff, said in a Facebook post.
His sudden and severe illness has raised suspicions after a string of Kremlin critics have become victims of poisoning.
Dissident security service officer Alexander Litvinenko died in London after consuming tea laced with polonium in 2006 and former spy Sergei Skripal survived an assassination attempt with a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok, in Salisbury, England, in 2018. UK officials linked both attacks to the Russian state.
“Much speaks for poisoning frankly,” Thomas Daldrup, a forensic toxicologist from the University of Düsseldorf, said.
“If the substance was intended to do its damage and then decay quickly in the body, then it may be difficult to establish a forensic picture of the attack. A strong initial hunch would be insulin toxication, an attack by a substance that altered the insulin blood level, made it go haywire.”
Members of Navalny’s team postponed a briefing planned for Sunday, Volkov said on Facebook, without giving a reason or setting a new date.
Navalny was under close surveillance by Russian security services during his visit to the Siberian city of Tomsk just before he fell ill, Russia’s Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) reported, citing security sources.
The newspaper published a detailed record of Navalny’s movements and meetings in the city, including a visit to a “secret” flat, rented by one of his supporters, to edit opposition videos. Investigators haven’t not identified any contacts that could have led to a poisoning, MK said.
“Only time will tell what the outcome is,” Jaka Bizilj, co-founder of the Cinema for Peace group that facilitated Navalny’s move, said in a phone interview on Saturday. “If he survives, will he be the old Navalny? We’re completely in the dark right now.”
Russian authorities allowed Navalny to be transported from the hospital in Omsk, Siberia, after his family, activists and international leaders appealed directly to President Vladimir Putin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said ...
