Russia’s Navalny has mystery ailment which may be slow poisoning, spokeswoman says

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most renowned opposition politician, is suffering from terrible stomach pain in jail, which could be caused by a slow-acting poison, according to his spokeswoman on Thursday.

An ambulance was dispatched for Navalny to the maximum security IK-6 penitentiary colony at Melekhovo, roughly 250 kilometers (115 miles) east of Moscow, where he is being held. His spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, told Reuters.

Navalny, she added, was suffering from severe stomach pain and couldn’t eat the prison food provided to him since it made his condition worse, and he has been barred from purchasing alternative food since Monday.

“He doesn’t eat anything because he is not allowed to receive food parcels or buy food in the prison store, and the food provided by the prison actually worsens his stomach pain,” Yarmysh explained in English.

“His health is not in good shape,” she remarked. “We can’t rule out the possibility that he is being poisoned, not in large doses like before, but in small ones, so that he doesn’t die immediately but suffers and ruins his health.”

Yarmysh stated that while there was no definitive proof of the poisoning claim, he had never experienced such stomach aches previously. She expressed her concern for him because he had little touch with her and was not receiving sufficient medical treatment.

When asked about reports that Navalny was being slowly poisoned, the Kremlin stated that it was not monitoring his health and that it was a problem for the federal correctional service.

The correctional service, which has previously refuted charges that its workers abused Navalny and has stated that he has always been provided with medical treatment when necessary, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Navalny, who is serving 11-1/2 years in prison for fraud and contempt of court on charges he claims were fabricated to silence him, said on Twitter on Tuesday that he had been placed back into solitary confinement and was being subjected to “extremely hellish” conditions.

Yarmysh stated that he had experienced comparable stomach ache in January after being treated with antibiotics for a virus and had lost a significant amount of weight.

The German government expressed grave concern on Wednesday over Navalny’s deteriorating health. Reuters was unable to independently confirm Navalny’s health.

RUSSIAN MANDELA
Navalny is a former lawyer who rose to popularity more than a decade ago by mocking President Vladimir Putin’s elite and alleging widespread corruption. Navalny’s fans see him as a Russian version of Nelson Mandela, who will one day be released from prison to govern the country.

Russian authorities, on the other hand, see him and his supporters as fanatics with ties to the CIA who want to destabilize Russia. They have declared his movement illegal, prompting many of his followers to leave to other countries.

Navalny escaped a purported attempt to poison him on a flight in Siberia in 2020, using what Western laboratory tests revealed to be a nerve toxin. Navalny claimed the Russian government of attempting to murder him, which it denied.

He was treated in Germany for the poisoning but voluntarily returned to Russia in 2021, where he was caught and imprisoned upon arrival.

Yarmysh said that medicine brought to Navalny’s incarceration by his mother was not retrieved from the post office by prison personnel and was returned. She stated that he should receive good medical attention.

Every time he became unwell, his supporters had to fight the prison officials to ensure he received treatment, she added.

“He is in complete isolation, and we have no idea what is happening to him,” she explained. “I’m terrified because no one knows what’s going on.”

“Putin has no red lines,” Yarmysh remarked. “He is an innocent man who is only in prison because Putin despises him.”

Russia asserts he was convicted guilty in a court of law and that any personal enmity charges are unjustified.