Fri 21 August 2020:
Consulting physicians manage to bring Navalny to stable condition, give go-ahead for transfer
MOSCOW – Seriously ill Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny will be transferred to a medical clinic in Berlin tonight, doctors announced.
The decision was made jointly with German doctors who arrived in Omsk, Siberia from Berlin after consulting physicians managed to bring Navalny to a stable condition, said Anatoly Kalinichenko, deputy chief medical officer where Navalny is being treated.
The German medical crew considered Navalny transportable and “guaranteed that they would take him to the specified destination” in Berlin, he said.
Earlier today Navalny was diagnosed with a metabolic disorder after a sudden fall in blood sugar reportedly sent him into a coma during a Thursday flight from the city of Tomsk to Moscow.
The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, and he was rushed to a hospital, where he is now on a ventilator in intensive care.
Navalny’s relatives claimed the opposition leader was poisoned, but reportedly no traces of poison were found during tests.
The Cinema for Peace Foundation has sent a plane to pick up Navalny, and bring him to Berlin, where the Charite Hospital is ready to treat him.
EU sounds alarms
Europe reacted to the alleged poisoning with alarm and concern.
“Worried to hear about Alexei Navalny’s suspected poisoning,” tweeted EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. “If confirmed, those responsible must be held to account. Wishing him a swift and full recovery.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said was also “deeply concerned.” “My thoughts are with him and his family,” he tweeted.
The leaders of France and Germany also expressed concern and offered their assistance.
Navalny’s relatives suspect something was mixed in the tea he drank Thursday morning, according to his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh.
Last year, he fell ill while being held at a Moscow detention center. His team suspected he was poisoned but doctors said it was a severe allergic reaction.
Navalny did not accept the findings and filed a legal complaint over his alleged poisoning.
By Elena Teslova | Anadolu agency
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