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Kremlin critic Navalny has awakened from a coma
The artificial coma of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny is over. The patient gradually withdraws from mechanical ventilation and reacts when spoken to. The Charité announced this on Monday in Berlin.
The 44-year-old man’s health has improved, the message also said. However, the long-term consequences of severe poisoning cannot be ruled out.
Navalny is considered the sharpest critic of the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin. He fell into a coma on August 20 on a flight in Russia and was later transferred to Berlin Charité at the insistence of his family.
Following investigations by a special Bundeswehr laboratory, the German government said it considered it proven beyond any doubt that Navalny had been poisoned with the military neurotoxin Novitschok. Russia denies being involved in the case of the 44-year-old opposition member.
Russia speaks of “absurd attempts”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov spoke again on Monday of “absurd attempts” to link the Russian government with him.
Alexei Navalny (right) shows a victory sign while sitting next to a security officer at the Moscow court in March 2017. Image: sda
The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had requested legal aid in Germany. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) had said in the ARD that the German side would agree to this. According to Peskow, Moscow also sees no reason why Berlin should not cooperate in the case.
The Navalny case has also sparked a discussion about halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. The Russian opposition has uncovered several corruption scandals in their home country. (sda / dpa)
