Russian opposition leader Navalny lands in Berlin
for medical treatment
Navalny fell ill on board a flight to Moscow from
Tomsk on Thursday.
By LAURENS
CERULUS
08/21/2020
10:20 PM EDT
Updated: 08/22/2020
07:39 AM EDT
Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny landed in Germany to receive medical treatment
for a suspected case of poisoning, his spokesperson said Saturday morning.
“The plane
with Alexei has just landed in Berlin,” Kira Yarmysh tweeted.
Navalny
fell ill on board a flight to Moscow from Tomsk on Thursday, forcing the plane
to make an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk. He was taken to a
local hospital and was confirmed to be in a coma.
His press
secretary Kira Yarmysh stated he had been poisoned “with something mixed into
the tea.”
Navalny's
team made arrangements to transfer him to the Berlin clinic Charité, the
Associated Press wrote. But Russian doctors at the hospital in Omsk initially
refused to let Navalny be transferred, saying he was too unstable to be moved.
French
President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday
they were ready to offer asylum and medical assistance to the Russian
opposition activist. The European Commission on Friday also urged Russian
authorities to allow the transfer.
Navalny is
Russia's most visible opposition leader and long-time critic of Russian
President Vladimir Putin, who runs a foundation to fight corruption in the
country. He has been arrested frequently in past years and last year also
claimed he was poisoned in an attempt to stop his political work.
Miles Herszenhorn contributed reporting.
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