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| Aleksei Navalny Hospitalized in Russia in Suspected Poisoning | Aleksei Navalny Hospitalized in Russia in Suspected Poisoning |
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| MOSCOW — Booked on an early morning flight back to Moscow, Aleksei A. Navalny began his day with a rushed breakfast — just a cup of tea in a plastic cup — at the airport in the Siberian city of Tomsk. Soon after his flight took off Thursday, he rushed to the toilet feeling violently ill. | MOSCOW — Booked on an early morning flight back to Moscow, Aleksei A. Navalny began his day with a rushed breakfast — just a cup of tea in a plastic cup — at the airport in the Siberian city of Tomsk. Soon after his flight took off Thursday, he rushed to the toilet feeling violently ill. |
| Just a few hundred miles into its nearly 2,000-mile flight, the plane made an emergency landing, and Mr. Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, groaning in agony before losing consciousness, was taken on a gurney to an ambulance waiting on the tarmac. | Just a few hundred miles into its nearly 2,000-mile flight, the plane made an emergency landing, and Mr. Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, groaning in agony before losing consciousness, was taken on a gurney to an ambulance waiting on the tarmac. |
| Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, who was traveling with him, announced on Twitter that he had been poisoned, probably by something put in his tea at the airport’s Vienna Café. Mr. Navalny, who has often described President Vladimir V. Putin as the leader of a “party of crooks and thieves,” had traveled to Siberia to help organize opposition candidates ahead of local elections next month. | Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, who was traveling with him, announced on Twitter that he had been poisoned, probably by something put in his tea at the airport’s Vienna Café. Mr. Navalny, who has often described President Vladimir V. Putin as the leader of a “party of crooks and thieves,” had traveled to Siberia to help organize opposition candidates ahead of local elections next month. |
| Doctors at the No. 1 Clinical Hospital in Omsk, the Siberian city where the plane made its emergency landing, initially said that Mr. Navalny was on a ventilator in serious condition. It later reported that his condition, though still grave, had stabilized. | Doctors at the No. 1 Clinical Hospital in Omsk, the Siberian city where the plane made its emergency landing, initially said that Mr. Navalny was on a ventilator in serious condition. It later reported that his condition, though still grave, had stabilized. |
| As alarm that Mr. Navalny might die receded, speculation of foul play escalated, particularly after his personal physician and fellow opposition activist, Anastasia Vasilyeva, arrived at the hospital in Omsk only to be denied access to his medical records and the intensive care ward where he was being treated. | As alarm that Mr. Navalny might die receded, speculation of foul play escalated, particularly after his personal physician and fellow opposition activist, Anastasia Vasilyeva, arrived at the hospital in Omsk only to be denied access to his medical records and the intensive care ward where he was being treated. |
| “Nobody is allowed in to see Aleksei Navalny, or to see his medical records,” Ms. Vasiliyeva, who flew to Tomsk with the opposition leader’s wife, Yulia, wrote in a Twitter post. Ms. Vasiliyeva, an optometrist, treated Mr. Navalny for severe eye burns after an unidentified assailant in 2017 threw a green chemical liquid in his face. | “Nobody is allowed in to see Aleksei Navalny, or to see his medical records,” Ms. Vasiliyeva, who flew to Tomsk with the opposition leader’s wife, Yulia, wrote in a Twitter post. Ms. Vasiliyeva, an optometrist, treated Mr. Navalny for severe eye burns after an unidentified assailant in 2017 threw a green chemical liquid in his face. |
| Ms. Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, said Thursday evening that Mr. Navalny’s wife had finally been allowed into his ward but that documents needed to fly him out of Omsk to a hospital elsewhere had still not been provided. | Ms. Yarmysh, his spokeswoman, said Thursday evening that Mr. Navalny’s wife had finally been allowed into his ward but that documents needed to fly him out of Omsk to a hospital elsewhere had still not been provided. |
| The Berlin-based movie producer, Jaka Bizilj, said his foundation was flying an air ambulance to Omsk and hoped to bring Mr. Navalny back to a Berlin hospital, Charité. Mr. Bizilj did the same in 2018 after a member of the Russian group Pussy Riot had been poisoned. | |
| Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of France, meeting in France, offered their assistance, including medical help and possible asylum. “What urgently needs to be clarified is how this situation came about,” Ms. Merkel said. | Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of France, meeting in France, offered their assistance, including medical help and possible asylum. “What urgently needs to be clarified is how this situation came about,” Ms. Merkel said. |
| The Kremlin said earlier that it would, if asked, help facilitate Mr. Navalny’s transfer, but this did not calm suspicions that the authorities wanted to delay his departure to prevent his being seen by foreign doctors more likely to identify poison if any remained in his system. | The Kremlin said earlier that it would, if asked, help facilitate Mr. Navalny’s transfer, but this did not calm suspicions that the authorities wanted to delay his departure to prevent his being seen by foreign doctors more likely to identify poison if any remained in his system. |
| While the Kremlin insisted Thursday that it was too early to say what had happened to its best known and most persistent critic, it was already clear by the end of the day that Mr. Navalny had joined a long list of Mr. Putin’s opponents to be suddenly afflicted by bizarre and sometimes fatal medical emergencies, often after drinking tea. | While the Kremlin insisted Thursday that it was too early to say what had happened to its best known and most persistent critic, it was already clear by the end of the day that Mr. Navalny had joined a long list of Mr. Putin’s opponents to be suddenly afflicted by bizarre and sometimes fatal medical emergencies, often after drinking tea. |
| Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist and fierce critic of the Kremlin, fell gravely ill in 2004 after drinking tea on an another domestic flight. She recovered from what she believed was poisoning, only to be shot dead two years later in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment. While five men were given lengthy prison sentences for the murder, investigators never identified who ordered the killing. | Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative journalist and fierce critic of the Kremlin, fell gravely ill in 2004 after drinking tea on an another domestic flight. She recovered from what she believed was poisoning, only to be shot dead two years later in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment. While five men were given lengthy prison sentences for the murder, investigators never identified who ordered the killing. |
| A month after her murder, a renegade former intelligence officer, Aleksandr V. Litvinenko died an agonizing death in a London hospital after sipping tea laced with a rare and lethal radioactive isotope, polonium 210. A British investigation concluded in 2016 that he had been the victim of a hit by Russia’s secret service that had probably been personally approved by Mr. Putin. | A month after her murder, a renegade former intelligence officer, Aleksandr V. Litvinenko died an agonizing death in a London hospital after sipping tea laced with a rare and lethal radioactive isotope, polonium 210. A British investigation concluded in 2016 that he had been the victim of a hit by Russia’s secret service that had probably been personally approved by Mr. Putin. |
| In 2015, another opposition activist, Vladimir Kara-Murza, fell into a weeklong coma in Moscow and later said he believed he had ingested poison on an Aeroflot flight. Mr. Kara-Murza said he was poisoned a second time, in 2017, while traveling in Russia to show a documentary about another Russian politician, Boris Y. Nemtsov, who had been shot and killed two years earlier on a Moscow bridge just yards from the Kremlin. | In 2015, another opposition activist, Vladimir Kara-Murza, fell into a weeklong coma in Moscow and later said he believed he had ingested poison on an Aeroflot flight. Mr. Kara-Murza said he was poisoned a second time, in 2017, while traveling in Russia to show a documentary about another Russian politician, Boris Y. Nemtsov, who had been shot and killed two years earlier on a Moscow bridge just yards from the Kremlin. |
| The Kremlin and its supporters have long detested Mr. Navalny because of the investigations he has led into graft by officials — including, most vividly, the former prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev. Mr. Navalny has been harassed and jailed numerous times for short periods, but the authorities have refrained from harsher steps that could elevate his national profile. | The Kremlin and its supporters have long detested Mr. Navalny because of the investigations he has led into graft by officials — including, most vividly, the former prime minister, Dmitri A. Medvedev. Mr. Navalny has been harassed and jailed numerous times for short periods, but the authorities have refrained from harsher steps that could elevate his national profile. |
| Last year, after his arrest for leading an unauthorized protest in Moscow, Mr. Navalny fell so ill while in jail that he had to be hospitalized for a mysterious “severe allergic reaction.” A generally healthy 44-year-old, he has no history of allergies and many, including Ms. Vasilyeva, suspected poison then, too. | Last year, after his arrest for leading an unauthorized protest in Moscow, Mr. Navalny fell so ill while in jail that he had to be hospitalized for a mysterious “severe allergic reaction.” A generally healthy 44-year-old, he has no history of allergies and many, including Ms. Vasilyeva, suspected poison then, too. |
| The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, told journalists that a decision on whether to open a criminal investigation into the cause of Mr. Navalny’s latest bout of sudden ill health would depend on the doctors’ diagnosis. Talk of poisoning, he said, was “just speculation.” | The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, told journalists that a decision on whether to open a criminal investigation into the cause of Mr. Navalny’s latest bout of sudden ill health would depend on the doctors’ diagnosis. Talk of poisoning, he said, was “just speculation.” |
| But so many Russians at odds with the Kremlin have fallen gravely ill over the years — and so few criminal attacks on opposition figures, whether with bullets or poison, have been solved — that virtually nobody expects Russia’s law enforcement system to delve deeply into what happened to Mr. Navalny even if there is an investigation. | But so many Russians at odds with the Kremlin have fallen gravely ill over the years — and so few criminal attacks on opposition figures, whether with bullets or poison, have been solved — that virtually nobody expects Russia’s law enforcement system to delve deeply into what happened to Mr. Navalny even if there is an investigation. |
| Within a few hours of Mr. Navalny being rushed to the hospital in Omsk, there were already signs that his illness would be quickly enveloped in a fog of disinformation and wild conspiracy theories — the Kremlin’s response to nearly all potentially embarrassing scandals. | Within a few hours of Mr. Navalny being rushed to the hospital in Omsk, there were already signs that his illness would be quickly enveloped in a fog of disinformation and wild conspiracy theories — the Kremlin’s response to nearly all potentially embarrassing scandals. |
| Pro-Kremlin news outlets quickly began pumping out alternative and apparently fictitious explanations for Mr. Navalny’s ordeal: a drug overdose; heavy drinking the night before; the side effects of anti-depressants; a botched medical treatment in the West. | Pro-Kremlin news outlets quickly began pumping out alternative and apparently fictitious explanations for Mr. Navalny’s ordeal: a drug overdose; heavy drinking the night before; the side effects of anti-depressants; a botched medical treatment in the West. |
| Tass, the state-owned news agency, quoted an unidentified law enforcement source as saying that the authorities were not yet considering the possibility of a deliberate poisoning. It said that Mr. Navalny could have “taken something himself” before boarding the plane. | Tass, the state-owned news agency, quoted an unidentified law enforcement source as saying that the authorities were not yet considering the possibility of a deliberate poisoning. It said that Mr. Navalny could have “taken something himself” before boarding the plane. |
| Ms. Yarmysh, Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman, responded on Twitter by asking, “If law enforcement agencies are not looking into intentional poisoning, why are there so many cops in the hospital?” | Ms. Yarmysh, Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman, responded on Twitter by asking, “If law enforcement agencies are not looking into intentional poisoning, why are there so many cops in the hospital?” |
| A news agency linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, an associate of Mr. Putin from St Petersburg who controls a network of media outlets known for disinformation, reported that Mr. Navalny probably fell ill because he was a drug addict. There is no evidence that Mr. Navalny uses drugs. | A news agency linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, an associate of Mr. Putin from St Petersburg who controls a network of media outlets known for disinformation, reported that Mr. Navalny probably fell ill because he was a drug addict. There is no evidence that Mr. Navalny uses drugs. |
| Mr. Navalny was traveling in Siberia on one of his regular trips to far-flung regions in an effort to expand Russia’s weak, Moscow-centric opposition movement. | Mr. Navalny was traveling in Siberia on one of his regular trips to far-flung regions in an effort to expand Russia’s weak, Moscow-centric opposition movement. |
| Before boarding his flight in Tomsk on Thursday, he met with opposition candidates in a coming election for the local council. He arrived there from Novosibirsk, Siberia’s largest city, where he had met with his supporters and discussed plans to field independent candidates. | |
| Mr. Navalny, like many other Kremlin critics, has rejoiced at the recent unrest in neighboring Belarus and in Khabarovsk in Russia’s Far East, seeing a sudden burst of protests in those previously somnolent places as a sign that Moscow, too, will emerge from its long, enforced political slumber under Mr. Putin, now in power for more than two decades. | Mr. Navalny, like many other Kremlin critics, has rejoiced at the recent unrest in neighboring Belarus and in Khabarovsk in Russia’s Far East, seeing a sudden burst of protests in those previously somnolent places as a sign that Moscow, too, will emerge from its long, enforced political slumber under Mr. Putin, now in power for more than two decades. |
| Mr. Navalny announced plans to run against Mr. Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but the authorities blocked his candidacy by entangling him in a criminal case involving corruption charges widely seen as trumped-up. | Mr. Navalny announced plans to run against Mr. Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but the authorities blocked his candidacy by entangling him in a criminal case involving corruption charges widely seen as trumped-up. |
| Mr. Putin would almost certainly have won any election against Mr. Navalny, but a head-to-head contest would have forced him to acknowledge the existence of a rival with different ideas. Each assault on Mr. Navalny’s person and reputation, however, has only stirred sympathy and reaffirmed his position as the country’s best known opposition leader. | Mr. Putin would almost certainly have won any election against Mr. Navalny, but a head-to-head contest would have forced him to acknowledge the existence of a rival with different ideas. Each assault on Mr. Navalny’s person and reputation, however, has only stirred sympathy and reaffirmed his position as the country’s best known opposition leader. |
| Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting from Paris, and Melissa Eddy from Berlin. | Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting from Paris, and Melissa Eddy from Berlin. |