A doctor who treated Alexei Navalny last year after the Russian opposition leader was poisoned has died suddenly, the hospital where he worked announced on Thursday.
Sergey Maximishin served as deputy chief physician in the Omsk emergency hospital that immediately treated Navalny after the poison attack the opposition leader blamed on the Russian government. Maximishin died “suddenly” at the age of 55, the hospital said.
“We regret to inform you that … the deputy chief physician for anesthesiology and resuscitation of the emergency hospital №1, assistant to the department of Omsk State Medical University, doctor of medical sciences Maximishin Sergey Valentinovich died suddenly,” the hospital said in a statement reported by CNN.
The hospital’s statement stated no cause of death, although a spokeswoman for Omsk’s regional health ministry later told CNN that Maximishin died of a heart attack, citing “preliminary data.”
Maximishin was in charge of Navalny’s treatment after he was poisoned. Navalny was put into a medically induced coma before being transferred to Berlin for further treatment.
A top assistant from Navalny noted that “it is not uncommon for doctors his age to die suddenly.”
“[Maximishin] knew more than anyone about Alexey’s condition, so I can’t rule out the possibility of foul play, “Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff told CNN.” However, the Russian healthcare system is very bad and it is not uncommon for doctors his age to die suddenly. I doubt there will be any investigation into his death. “
CNN noted that it had no evidence of foul play.
Navalny was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday after being charged with violating his parole requirements in 2014. Navalny argues that the charges against him are not legitimate.
Russia has denied all of Navalny’s allegations and imprisoned thousands of protesters who took to the streets in support of the opposition figure.