Alexei Navalny's spokesperson claims Putin critic is 'being slowly poisoned' in prison

Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is currently facing health issues in prison that his spokesperson believes could be related to a possible slow-acting poison. According to a report from Sky news, Navalny has lost 8kg (17.6 lbs) in weight in a span of just over two weeks, and an ambulance was called for him over the weekend. This has raised concerns about the well-being of the prominent opposition politician, who has been a vocal critic of Putin's government and has faced legal and political challenges in Russia.

Navalny is currently serving his prison sentence in a maximum-security penal colony IK-6 located in Melekhovo, approximately 115 miles east of Moscow. He has been grappling with an unknown stomach ailment, according to his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, who further revealed that prison doctors had previously treated Navalny by administering unidentified injections. In a recent Twitter post, Yarmysh expressed concerns that Navalny may be slowly poisoned, suggesting that he is being deliberately harmed in a manner that attracts less attention. She also claimed that the Kremlin critic is being held in a punishment cell without adequate medical assistance, despite experiencing acute pain.

Kremlin says it is not monitoring Navalny's health

The Kremlin, when asked about allegations of Navalny potentially being slowly poisoned, responded by stating that they were not monitoring his health and that it fell under the jurisdiction of the federal prisons service. Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison in March on charges of large-scale fraud and contempt of court. He has been vocal in denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as "stupid" and "built on lies," while urging fellow citizens to participate in daily protests. Navalny was arrested in January 2021 upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering from nerve agent poisoning.