Russian opponent Alexei Navalni is in a coma after he felt ill during a flight from the city of Tomsk to the Russian capital, Moscow. He is currently in intensive care in the city of Omsk after an emergency landing. Sputnik details what is known about the state of the politician and the possible causes of his painting.
Shortly after take-off of flight S7 2614 between Tomsk and Moscow, one of the passengers felt ill, the airline’s press service reported. This passenger was Alexei Navalni. It was also specified that the politician had not eaten or drunk during the flight. However, another passenger posted a photo of Navalni allegedly drinking tea at Tomsk airport before boarding.
During the flight, Navalni went to the bathroom and did not return, the same passenger reported on his Instagram account. As he explained, the politician was in a very serious condition. In the video posted by this passenger, Navalni can be heard yelling at Navalni on board the aircraft in mid-flight. Soon, the plane made an emergency landing in the city of Omsk, Sputnik reported.
S7 airline reported that the plane’s crew acted in accordance with the rules. The flight attendants immediately informed the captain of the aircraft, who landed at the nearest airport. The sources stressed that the captain decided to land just after he was informed about the status of the passenger.
Navalni was admitted to one of the hospitals in the Russian city of Omsk with symptoms of poisoning, although this is only one of the versions of his current condition that doctors describe as serious. The doctors at the hospital where the opponent is located specified that the patient remains unconscious.
Navalni is in a coma and on a respirator to ensure the function of his lungs. Representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Omsk region arrived at the hospital where the opponent remains. Doctors now assess the state of the politician and study the possible causes of the current state of the patient.
Later, the doctors reported that they had managed to stabilize Navalni’s state, but at the same time stressed that it is early to make any kind of prognosis.
Causes and unfounded speculations
When the serious condition of the opponent was made known, many media rushed to report on a poisoning, but the poisoning is only one of the versions that has not yet been officially confirmed. The spokeswoman for the FBK foundation – founded and led by Navalni – Kira Yarmysh, in turn, is sure and insists that it is a poisoning, but the doctors emphasize that it is too early to talk about the causes.
The deputy chief medical officer of the BSMP-1 hospital, where Navalni is located, Anatoli Kalinichenko, highlighted that “in addition to intoxication, which is logically being considered among the possible causes of the deterioration of his health, there may be several acute situations with the same clinical picture ”. The doctor also reported that the medical team has already ruled out various causes of the current state of the politician. However, he declined to give additional information due to patient confidentiality.
This is not the first time that Navalni has had health problems. The politician had been transferred to a hospital in 2019 with symptoms of a serious allergic reaction. Doctors could not establish the causes of this reaction. For a time, Navalni stayed in a therapeutic section of a hospital. Doctors rated his condition as satisfactory. But the August 20 incident is much more dangerous for the opponent’s health.
Some media linked the alleged poisoning to Navalni’s activity as a politician and blogger. In recent weeks, he had covered the protests in Belarus and in the Russian city of Khabarovsk in his videos. Some of his supporters suspect that his position regarding these two events may have been the reason for his poisoning, but Navalni has been promoting his oppositional views for years: his position is nothing new.
So, the question arises: why now? No one seems to have a solid answer to this question. It should be noted that in Russia there are many politicians and bloggers who have a different view than the Kremlin regarding these events and all of them express their views freely.
Kremlin reaction
There are those who hinted that the Russian authorities could be linked to this case. However, it is clear that the political management of the Eurasian country is aware of the risks of the poisoning of one of its main critics: many would suddenly and without thinking blame the Kremlin. It seems impossible that the authorities would dare to make such a decision taking into account the reputational risks for Moscow.
According to presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin is aware of Alexei Navalni’s state of health and wishes him a speedy recovery.
The Kremlin promised an investigation if the version of the poisoning is verified. For now, this version is preliminary and is not confirmed. If this turns out to be true, a criminal case will be opened. The Kremlin called not to make conjectures about the state of health of the Russian opponent before seeing the laboratory tests, said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency.
Peskov also said that, if necessary, the Kremlin would be willing to consider the possibility of treating the opponent in a foreign country: once the Russian Presidency receives the request, they will raise it quickly.
The Kremlin’s willingness to help move Navalni to a foreign country confirms again that the Russian authorities in all likelihood have nothing to do with his deteriorating health.
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