Alexei Navalny, Rival to Putin, in Critical Condition After Suspected Poisoning
Opposition leader is on artificial ventilation in a Siberian hospital, according to his spokeswoman
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny took part in a rally in Moscow on Feb. 29.
PHOTO: SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/REUTERS
MOSCOW—Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s political elite, has been poisoned and is unconscious undergoing treatment at a Siberian hospital, his spokeswoman said.
He started feeling ill after he had tea early on Thursday before a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow, Kira Yarmysh said. The plane made an emergency landing in the nearby city of Omsk, where Mr. Navalny was admitted to the hospital, she added.
“We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed in his tea; it was the only thing he drank all morning,” Ms. Yarmysh said on Twitter. “Now Alexei is unconscious.”
Mr. Navalny was hooked up to artificial ventilation at the hospital, Ms. Yarmysh said, adding that his supporters had called the police to the hospital. His condition was critical, she said.
Mr. Navalny campaigned forcefully earlier this year against a series of constitutional amendments passed in July, which included a provision to allow Mr. Putin to potentially rule until 2036. He had called for Russians to boycott a referendum on the amendments, saying the vote would be falsified regardless of the real outcome.
Since the constitutional vote earlier this summer, more opposition figures have found themselves under increased pressure from authorities. Some have been detained and had their properties raided.
Last year, Mr. Navalny said he was poisoned in police custody after supporting protests against the Kremlin in central Moscow. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t independently confirm this claim.
Kremlin critics have been hospitalized with suspected poisoning before. Vocal opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza was poisoned in 2015 and 2017 before recovering. In 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former double agent, and his daughter were poisoned in the U.K., where they lived.