When German specialists first arrived Friday morning on a plane equipped with advanced medical equipment managed by his family, doctors from Navalny in Omsk said he was too unstable to move.
Navalny’s supporters denied that as a ploy by authorities to stop until any poison in his system could no longer be traced. The medical team of Omsk only trusted after a charity organized by the medevac plane revealed that the German doctors examined the politician and said he was fit to be transported.
Deputy Chief Physician of the Omsk Hospital Anatoly Kalinichenko then told reporters that Navalny’s condition had stabilized and that doctors were ‘not about to’ transfer ‘the politician, given that his relatives were ready’ to take the risks. ‘
The Kremlin’s opposition to the transfer was political, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was purely a medical decision. However, the turnaround came when international pressure on Russia’s leadership rose.
It would not be the first time that a prominent, outspoken Russian has been targeted in such a way – as the first time the Kremlin has been accused of standing behind it.
On Thursday, leaders from France and Germany said the two countries were ready to offer any support to Navalny and his family and insisted on an investigation into what happened. On Friday, Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for the European Union, added that the bloc was carrying Russian authorities to allow him abroad.
Also on Friday, the European Court of Human Rights said it had asked a question from Navalny’s supporters that it urge the Russian government to remove the politician.
The most prominent member of Russia’s opposition, Navalny campaigned to challenge Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but was prevented from running. Since then, he has promoted opposition candidates in regional elections, and challenged members of the ruling party, United Russia.
Its Anti-Corruption Foundation has exposed the graft among government officials, including some at the highest level. But he had to close the foundation last month following a financially devastating lawsuit by a businessman with close ties to the Kremlin.
Navalny fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Thursday and was taken to hospital after the plane made an emergency landing. His team made arrangements to transfer him to Charité, a clinic in Berlin that has a history of treating famous foreign leaders and dissidents.
Dr. Yaroslav Ashikhmin, Navalny’s doctor in Moscow, told The Associated Press that being on a plane with special equipment, including a ventilator and a machine that can do the work of the heart and lungs, “could be even safer than stay in a hospital in Omsk. “
Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh posted photos of what she said was a bathroom in the hospital that showed squalid conditions, including walls painted with paint, rusty pipes, and a dirty floor and walls.
While his supporters and family members claimed that Navalny was poisoned, doctors in Omsk denied this and put out another theory.
The hospital’s chief doctor, Alexander Murakhovsky, said in a video published by Omsk news outlet NGS55 that a metabolic disorder was the most likely diagnosis and that a drop in Navalny’s blood sugar might cause her to lose consciousness.
Another doctor with ties to the politician, dr. Anastasia Vasilyeva, said diagnosing Navalny with a ‘metabolic disorder’ says nothing about what it may have caused – and it could have been the result of poisoning.
Ashikhmin, who has been Navalny’s doctor since 2013, said the politician had always been in good health, went to regular medical check-ups and had no underlying illnesses that could have triggered his condition.
Western toxicology experts doubt that poisoning could be ruled out so quickly.
‘It takes a while to sort things out. And especially if something is very toxic – it will be there in very low concentrations, and many screening tests would simply not pick up that substance, “said Alastair Hay, an emeritus professor and toxicology expert at the school. for Medicine at the University of Leeds.
Like many other opposition politicians in Russia, Navalny is often detained by law enforcement and harassed by pro-Kremlin groups. In 2017, he was attacked by several men who threw antiseptics in his face, injuring one eye.
Last year, Navalny was taken from the prison to the hospital – where he sentenced a sentence on charges of violating protest regulations. His team then also suspected poisoning. Doctors said he had a severe allergic attack and sent him back to detention the next day.
The widow of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian agent who died in London in 2006 after drinking tea drunk with radioactive polonium-210, said she understood why Navalny’s family wanted him transferred abroad.
Marina Litvinenko told the AP via a video call from Italy that “every day, every hour, sometimes every second” is important.
She expressed her support for Navalny’s family, saying, “Especially for his wife Yulia, be strong,” she said. ‘And never give up. Believe that he will survive. ”
