Kremlin rejects accusations Putin was involved in suspected poisoning of Alexei Navalny

Russian opposition critic remains in a coma in hospital in Berlin

The Kremlin has rejected accusations that Vladimir Putin was involved in the suspected poisoning of opposition critic Alexei Navalny, who is in a coma in a German hospital.

A spokesman called reports of his poisoning “hasty” in the Kremlin’s first remarks since the Berlin clinic where Navalny is a patient confirmed he had been contaminated with a cholinesterase inhibitor – part of a group that includes nerve agents and pesticides, as well as certain drugs.

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Tests indicate Alexei Navalny was poisoned, says German clinic

Kremlin critic being treated with same antidote used after 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury

Tests indicate that Alexei Navalny was the victim of a poisoning and he is being treated with atropine, the same antidote used after the 2018 nerve agent attack in Salisbury, the German clinic where the Kremlin critic is a patient said on Monday.

While Berlin’s Charité hospital did not identify the specific poison responsible for Navalny’s sudden illness on an internal Russian flight last Thursday, the substance was part of a group that affects the central nervous system, and includes nerve agents and pesticides, as well as some drugs.

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Alexei Navalny tests point to possible nerve agent attack, experts say

Raised levels of cholinesterase are important piece in the puzzle of Kremlin critic’s sudden illness

High levels of the chemical cholinesterase in tests on Alexey Navalny are a compelling clue that he was poisoned with a nerve agent, experts have said.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical and biological counter-terrorism expert, said the presence of cholinesterase inhibitors suggested Navaly was suffering from nerve agent poisoning. Raised levels of cholinesterase were an important “jigsaw piece in the puzzle”, he said.

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Police sources say Alexei Navalny was under surveillance in Siberia

Leak to newspaper is apparently intended to show Navalny was not poisoned in city of Tomsk

A Russian newspaper has alleged there was extensive government surveillance of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny during a trip to Siberia before he collapsed from a suspected poisoning on Thursday.

Navalny’s press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, had complained of being followed during the trip, calling the police surveillance “absolutely obvious” during a stopover in the city of Novosibirsk. The next leg in the city of Tomsk was “relatively calm”, she said, until Navalny fell ill during a return flight to Moscow on Thursday. He was transferred to Berlin’s Charite hospital on Saturday for treatment.

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Alexei Navalny arrives in Germany for treatment for suspected poisoning

Russian opposition leader flown to Berlin after doctors allow discharge from Siberian hospital

Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has been evacuated to a hospital in Berlin to be treated for suspected poisoning, after his wife and supporters begged Vladimir Putin to let him leave a Siberian hospital.

Doctors in the city of Omsk had initially refused to allow him to leave their care, but he was finally allowed to fly out on an air ambulance sent by a German charity in the early hours of Saturday morning.

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West holding back on criticism of Russia over Navalny ‘poisoning’

While activist remains in the country, response is unlikely to go overboard

Western leaders have raised “concerns” about the suspected poisoning of leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, and offered medical help, but mostly avoided direct attacks on Russia as the activist fought for his life in a Siberian hospital.

The most muted response came from the US president, Donald Trump, who barely acknowledged the sudden collapse of Russia’s most prominent opposition figure, confirming only that his administration was looking into the events.

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Alexei Navalny’s wife asks Putin to let him be treated in Germany

Letter appeals to Russian leader after doctors refuse to allow Kremlin critic to leave country

The wife of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has appealed directly to Vladimir Putin to allow her husband to be evacuated to a clinic in Germany to receive treatment for a suspected poisoning.

Doctors treating Navalny in the Siberian city of Omsk have refused to release him for evacuation to a clinic abroad, sparking a standoff with his family and aides who say his life is in danger in Russia.

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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s doctor says he was poisoned – video

Navalny's doctor says he has been poisoned and is in a coma. The Russian opposition activist collapsed during a flight to Moscow, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Omsk airport, where Navalny was put on to a stretcher and taken to hospital. 

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A cup of tea, then screams of agony: how Alexei Navalny was left fighting for his life

The Russian opposition activist became violently ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow

For Alexei Navalny it was another routine trip to the regions. Specifically to Siberia’s biggest city, Novosibirsk, and to its alluring neighbour, Tomsk. “An excellent city. One of the most beautiful in our country,” Navalny enthused on Instagram, posting a photo from Tomsk on Wednesday with a group of young supporters.

Navalny is Russia’s most prominent opposition activist. He made no secret of why he had flown to Tomsk, known for its wooden mansions and enlightened university. The goal, he wrote, was to back independent candidates ahead of local elections next month. And, of course, to kick out the “crooks” from Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

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Russian activist Alexei Navalny unconscious after being ‘poisoned’

Opposition politician may have been poisoned by toxic substance in his tea, says press secretary

The Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny is unconscious in hospital after allegedly being poisoned with a toxic substance in his tea, according to his press secretary Kira Yarmish.

A doctor at the hospital said that Navalny was in a “serious condition” but did not specify the cause. The opposition activist is currently on a ventilator.

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Russian anti-fascist group given ‘monstrous’ jail terms

Rights activists criticise trial, saying members of the Network group were tortured

A Russian court has sentenced a group of anti-fascists to between six and 18 years in prison on terrorism and other charges, with rights activists describing the punishment as monstrous.

Sergei Morgunov, a lawyer for one of the seven defendants, said a military court in the central city of Penza had handed down the verdict in the Network case. All seven had denied the charges.

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Anti-Putin activist Ruslan Shaveddinov ‘forcibly conscripted’ and sent to Arctic

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny says 23-year-old is a ‘political prisoner’ after being taken to secret and remote air defence base

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has said that one of his allies had been forcibly conscripted and sent to serve at a remote Arctic base, in a move his supporters said amounted to kidnapping.

Ruslan Shaveddinov, a project manager at Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation, went missing Monday after police broke into his Moscow flat and his phone’s SIM card was disabled.

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Russian protesters threatened with jail on eve of planned rally

Move follows police violence during last week’s protests over forthcoming Moscow elections

Russian authorities have threatened protesters in Moscow with lengthy jail sentences in an attempt to dampen an unexpected surge in protest mood before a planned rally on Saturday.

Last weekend police detained a record number of people, some of them violently, for taking part in a peaceful protest in central Moscow over access for opposition candidates to local elections in September.

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Alexei Navalny: Russian opposition leader may have been poisoned, says doctor

Politician was taken to hospital from jail where he was detained over call for protests

The Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny remains in hospital after being rushed there on Sunday morning with symptoms that one of his doctors said could indicate poisoning.

Navalny was taken to hospital from jail, where he was serving a 30-day sentence after being arrested last week for calling people to attend an anti-government protest.

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Russian opposition calls for more protests after mass arrests

Further action planned to press authorities to let candidates stand in Moscow city elections

Russian opposition politicians have called on their supporters to keep up with street rallies, the day after the most forceful police response to protests in the country for years.

More than 1,300 people were detained by police on Saturday, at a protest called in response to the refusal of electoral authorities to register independent candidates for the Moscow city council elections in September.

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