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Last, German hospital treating Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny for
poisoning said on Wednesday that his condition has improved enough for him to
be released, and suggested a “complete recovery” from the nerve agent was
possible.
Navnlny,
44, spent 32 days in treatment in Berlin’s Charite hospital, 24 of which were
in intensive care, before doctors deemed his “condition had improved
sufficiently for him to be discharged from acute inpatient care”.
The
hospital said that based on Navalny’s progress, treating physicians believe
that “complete recovery is possible,” but added that it “remains too early to
gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning”.
Navalny,
the most visible opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to
Germany two days after falling ill on August 20 on a domestic flight in Russia.
German
chemical weapons experts have determined he was poisoned with the Soviet-era
nerve agent Novichok – findings corroborated by labs in France and Sweden.
In his
first blog post since emerging from a coma, Navalny said on Monday that the
three European labs had found Novichok “in and on my body”.
He noted
that Russia had still not opened an investigation but that he “did not expect
anything else”.
Navalny
aides said on Thursday that German experts found Novichok on a water bottle
taken from the hotel room where he stayed before being taken ill.
The
bottle appears to have been key evidence for Germany’s conclusion that the
44-year-old lawyer and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin was
poisoned with the military-grade nerve agent.
It was
the same class of Soviet-era agent that Britain said was used on former Russian
spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England, in 2018, and
Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders have called for Russia to
fully investigate.
Navalny
was kept in an induced coma for more than two weeks as he was treated with an
antidote. Members of his team accused the Kremlin of involvement in the
poisoning, charges that Russian officials have vehemently denied.
Russia
has bristled at the demands for an investigation, saying it needs Germany to
share medical data or compare notes with the Russian doctors who said they
found no trace of poison in his system while he was at a hospital in the
Siberian city of Omsk.
Germany
has noted that Navalny was in Russian treatment for 48 hours, and that Russia
has its own data.
Germany
has also enlisted the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons for technical assistance in the case.
Last
week, the international agency said its experts had “independently collected
biomedical samples from Mr Navalny for analysis by OPCW designated
laboratories”.
Results
have not yet been announced.
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