Navalny supporter sounds the alarm: “They are gradually killing him”

Russia’s most prominent opposition politician apparently has serious health problems again. As Russian activist Ruslan Schaweddinov tells the Guardian, Navalny is suffering from severe abdominal pain. The pain may be from a slow-acting poison, Navalny’s supporter said.

An ambulance was reportedly called to the IK-6 high-security colony in Russia’s Melekhovo last week. Navalny Prison is located in the city, about 200 kilometers east of Moscow. “His condition is critical, we are all very concerned,” Schaweddinow told The Guardian. Prison authorities refused to hospitalize Navalny. No information on his state of health was released as the detention center made every effort to isolate Navalny.

Schaweddinow said his team thought Navalny was slowly being poisoned. “Our theory is that they are killing him gradually using a slow-acting poison administered through food,” the activist told The Guardian.

Navalny’s lawyer had previously drawn attention to the health of the opposition. Vadim Kobsev spoke on Twitter about “an unknown disease that nobody treats”. Navalny, 46, who was previously emaciated, lost another eight kilograms of body weight within two weeks. The prison administration does not pass on the medicines that Navalny’s mother sends.

Kobsev continued that he does not exclude that Navalny, who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 2020 with the neurotoxin “Novichok”, would now fall ill again. His client suffers from “crises” and he thinks it is possible that the authorities want his health to deteriorate “not suddenly, but gradually”. He therefore demands a toxicological and radiological examination of his client.

Navalny sees his new solitary confinement as punishment for investigating corruption in prison authorities. The Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), managed by Navalny, recently published an article about the overpriced purchase of food in Russian prisons. From prison, Navalny has regularly criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine and called on Russians to protest against the government.

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(t-online/dm)