Russian hospital claims Putin critic Navalny wasn't poisoned, bars his medevac to Germany


The Russian opposition leader who is in a coma, possibly after being poisoned, is reportedly not being allowed to transfer out of a state-run hospital.
Alexei Navalny, prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was hospitalized this week after he suddenly became ill on a flight to Moscow from Siberia, and his spokesperson said that "We suspect that Alexei was poisoned by something mixed into [his] tea." On Friday, Navalny's spokesperson said he is not being permitted to transfer out of the state-run hospital where he's being treated, describing this refusal to let him leave as "an attempt on his life," CBS News reports. Doctors from Germany already arrived with the intention of transferring Navalny, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The hospital is claiming that Navalny's condition is too unstable for him to be transferred, The New York Times reports. Doctors also claim that "no poisons or traces of their presence" were found in Navalny's body and that "we do not believe that the patient has suffered poisoning," asserting that he suffered from "a sudden drop in blood sugar" due to a "metabolic disorder," per CBS.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, alleges that officials aren't allowing him to be transported out of the hospital because they hope "to make the chemical substance that is in Alexey's body disappear," CNN reports. She added that "we of course cannot trust this hospital and we demand for Alexey to be given to us, so that we could have him treated in an independent hospital whose doctors we trust." Navalny's spokesperson also said, per the Journal, that the Russian doctors, "of course, didn’t make the decision, but the Kremlin did."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Japan's surname conundrum
Under the Radar Law requiring couples to share one surname hinders women in the workplace and lowers birth rate, campaigners claim
-
How successful would Elon Musk's third party be?
Today's Big Question Musk has vowed to start a third party after falling out with Trump
-
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
Feature "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" and "American Heart"
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California