Poisoned Kremlin Critic Navalny Out of Coma; Plans Return to Russia
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was allegedly poisoned, has been removed from a medically induced coma in a German hospital and plans to return to Russia, officials said Monday.
Navalny, 44, had been in Berlin’s Charite hospital since he was airlifted to Germany after falling ill on a Russian domestic flight last month.
Charite said his condition had improved, and he is being weaned off mechanical ventilation. “It remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning,” the hospital cautioned.
Despite the uncertainty, he reportedly told a German prosecutor that he plans to return to Russia as soon as he has recovered. He also spoke about his attempt on his life in that same conversation, The New York Times newspaper reported citing a senior security official.
“He’s fully aware of his condition, he’s fully aware of what happened, and he’s fully aware of where he is,” added the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about the case.
The announcement came after Berlin said laboratories in France and Sweden confirmed its findings that Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had already announced that her government concluded that Navalny was Poisoned with Novichok. It is the same substance that Britain claimed was used against a Russian double agent and his daughter in an attack in England in 2018.
Moscow says it has seen no evidence that Navalny was poisoned and called the allegations part of a Western smear campaign against Russia.