Vladimir Putin critic and prominent Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, currently in a coma, has landed in Berlin to receive medical treatment. His supporters believe he was poisoned; the Kremlin denies this.
Russian dissident politician Alexei Navalny landed at Berlin Tegel airport after being airlifted from a hospital in Omsk, Russia. He is being treated for suspected poisoning at Berlin’s Charite hospital.
The German military brought him to the hospital from the airport in an intensive care transporter, according to dpa new agency.
The Russian opposition leader is currently in a coma and breathing through a ventilator.
Jaka Bizilj, founder of Cinemas for Peace, the German NGO that funded Navalny’s flight to Berlin, told Bild newspaper that the Russian politician’s condition was stable following his arrival in Germany.
Navalny left Russia early Saturday on a flight bound for Germany following more than 24 hours of wrangling between German and Russian medics.
An ambulance carrying Navalny arrived at Omsk airport at around 6 a.m. local time (00:30 UTC). He left in a private plane chartered by Cinema for Peace that was sent to fly Navalny to Berlin.
Shortly before takeoff, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter that he had boarded the plane.
“The fight for Alexei’s life and health is just beginning and there is a long way to go, but at least the first step has been taken,” she said.
Алексея подняли на медицинский борт. Юля с ним pic.twitter.com/nCw5UsalG8
— Кира Ярмыш (@Kira_Yarmysh) August 22, 2020
Navalny is in a coma after a suspected poisoning. Russia gave permission for the NGO to transfer the 44-year-old to the German capital from Siberia on Friday. Initially Russian medical professionals said he was not in a fit state to travel by plane, but relented when the German doctors declared he could be transported.
Navalny will now be treated in Berlin’s Charité hospital. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among those who pushed for a speedy transfer for Navalny to Germany.
Alexei Navalny
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was rushed to hospital in Siberia after being taken ill on a flight to Moscow. His aides allege he was poisoned in revenge for his campaigns against corruption. The 44-year-old lawyer apparently only drank black tea before taking off from Omsk airport, which his team think was laced with a toxin that put him in a coma.
Targeted by Kremlin
The politician and corruption investigator is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s harshest and most prominent critics. His supporters say that tea he drank was laced with poison and the Kremlin is responsible.
Navalny was rushed to hospital in Omsk on Thursday. Russian doctors say there is no evidence of poisoning, claiming Navalny has a “metabolic disorder.”
Navalny’s supporters said the delay in giving permission for him to be transferred was a ploy to stall his treatment until there was no more poison in his system. The Kremlin denied the claim.
Like many other opposition politicians in Russia, Navalny has frequently been detained by law enforcement and pro-Kremlin groups. He was rushed to hospital in 2017 from jail in what doctors called a “severe allergic reaction” but supporters suspect may have been a poisoning.
He served time for violating protest regulations.
Video: Navalny to be flown to Berlin’s Charité for treatment
DW / Balkantimes.press
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