Alexey Navalny is in a cage during a defamation hearing in the Babuskinsky District Court in Moscow on Feb. 12.
Source: Babuskinsky District Court
Source: Babuskinsky District Court
The condition of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has deteriorated sharply after a 2 1/2 week hunger strike, his supporters said Saturday.
Alexey is dying now. Given his condition, it is only a matter of days, ”said Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh Facebook.
Anastasia Vasilieva, who heads the Alliance of Doctors backed by Navalny, posted a copy of his blood test results showing that she believed potassium levels were ‘critical’. “This indicates kidney failure, which could lead to a serious disturbance in his heartbeat at any time,” including the possibility of heart failure, she said. Twitter.
US President Joe Biden was asked about Navalny’s condition on Saturday. “It’s totally, totally unfair,” Biden said in brief remarks to reporters. “Absolutely inappropriate.”
Navalny, 44, has been held in the infamous IK-2 prison camp about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow since March 11. President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critic was jailed for violating parole rules while in Germany recovering from near-lethal chemical poisoning in Siberia that he and Western governments blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny involvement.
After complaining of acute back and leg pain, Navalny launched a hunger strike on March 31 to demand specialist care from doctors outside the prison system. In a post on his Instagram account Friday, Navalny’s allies reported that a prison official had warned him that a blood test indicated a “serious deterioration” in his health and that he would be forcibly fed if he didn’t stop the protest.
The federal correctional service did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Officials have previously said that Navalny has received all necessary medical attention.
Putin, Poison and Alexey’s Importance Navalny: QuickTake
Biden pressed Putin on Tuesday in a telephone conversation about the poisoning of the opposition leader, which US intelligence has publicly blamed on the Russian Federal Security Service. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron also questioned Putin about Navalny in a March 30 phone call.
Dozens of public figures urged Putin in an open letter on Friday to ensure that Navalny receives “immediate” medical treatment. So far, Russia has brushed aside all Western criticism of the matter and Kremlin officials are refusing even to name Navalny.
Even as his condition deteriorated, Russian prosecutors on Friday stepped up the crackdown by asking a Moscow court to declare Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and its headquarters for the Moscow campaign to be extremist organizations. The opposition group warned that the designation could subject all of its staff and volunteers to criminal charges and imprisonment.
Updates with Biden note in fourth paragraph.