Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny discharged from hospital after poisoning
(CNN) — Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been discharged from hospital after his near-fatal poisoning and could potentially make a complete recovery, according to the German hospital which has been treating him since last month.
Navalny became gravely ill on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow on Aug. 20. He was initially hospitalized in the city of Omsk, before being flown to Berlin’s Charité Hospital two days later.
“The patient’s condition has improved sufficiently for him to be discharged from acute inpatient care,” said a statement from Berlin’s Charité Hospital. “Alexey Navalny has been receiving treatment at Charité for a total of 32 days, of which 24 days were spent in intensive care.”
“Based on the patient’s progress and current condition, the treating physicians believe that complete recovery is possible. However, it remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning.”
The German government has said the Kremlin critic was poisoned with a chemical agent from the Soviet-era Novichok group, a conclusion supported by two other labs in France and Sweden.
The Kremlin has strongly denied any involvement, but multiple questions remain.
Novichok was also used in a March 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury and multiple Russian dissidents have been poisoned in the past.