Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny out of medically induced coma: Berlin hospital

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been removed from a medically-induced coma as his health condition improved, said the German hospital on September 7. Berlin’s Charité University hospital said in a statement that the Kremlin critic, who fell unconscious during a flight due to alleged poisoning and was transferred to the hospital on August 22, will be gradually taken out of the ventilator support.

“The patient has been removed from his medically induced coma and is being weaned off mechanical ventilation. He is responding to verbal stimuli. It remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning,” the statement read.

The hospital assured that the doctors remain in close contact with Navalny's wife Yulia Navalny. This came just a week after German authorities said that the tests have revealed the “proof without a doubt” that he had been poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. The British authorities had identified the Soviet-era Novichok as the poison used on the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018.

Read - Kremlin Denounces Attempts To Blame Russia For Navalny’s Poisoning As ‘absurd’

Read - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas Slams Russia On Navalny Probe Claim, Pipeline

Germany denies ruling out Russia’s Nord Stream project

Meanwhile, Germany has denied ruling out consequences for Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project if Kremlin fails to thoroughly probe the alleged poisoning of Alexei Navalny. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson was asked whether Berlin would protect the pipeline if the government seeks sanctions against Russia over Navalny’s poisoning.

"The chancellor believes it would be wrong to rule anything out from the start," Steffen Seibert responded.

Merkel is facing growing pressure to reconsider Nord Stream 2 pipeline, one of the two Russian projects in Europe to supply gas to Germany, after the health authorities confirmed the poisoning of Alexei Navalny with a Soviet-style nerve agent. Merkel’s spokesperson had said in a statement that Navalny’s toxicological test results "revealed unequivocal proof of the presence of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group."

Read - Germany Denies Ruling Out Impact On Nord Stream Project Over Navalny’s Poisoning

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Image: AP