Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition activist, poisoned with tea

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, was rushed to hospital in Omsk after he suffered a suspected poisoning. Navalny fell ill while flying from Tomsk to Moscow. The airliner had to perform an emergency landing in Omsk.

"A year ago, when Alexei was in the detention center, he was poisoned. Obviously, now they did the same to him," Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh tweeted.

In her opinion, something was added to his tea that he drank in the morning while at the airport of Tomsk. Doctors say that the poison was absorbed faster through hot liquid.

Yarmysh said that Navalny had no symptoms prior to takeoff.

"He said that he was not feeling well and asked for a napkin, he was sweating. He asked to talk to him because he wanted to concentrate on the sound of voice. He wen tto the bathroom after a while and he lost consciousness afterwards," Yarmysh said.

Navalny is still unconscious; he was connected to a ventilator. The police were called to the hospital. The politician remains in a consistently serious condition.

The press service of the Ministry of Health of the Omsk Region told RBC that doctors carried out all necessary examinations to determine the reasons behind Navalny's condition.

Aleksei Navalny spent several days in the regions of Siberia. First, he came to Novosibirsk, where he was collecting materials for a new investigation about United Russia deputies. He also met with volunteers and then went to Tomsk. Representatives of his local headquarters noted that they did not notice anything strange on the last day of the politician's visit to Siberia.

Novosibirsk and Tomsk are getting ready for city council and city Duma elections. In both cities, the electoral commission registered independent candidates, who, inter alia, are supported by Navalny's local headquarters.

On July 24, 2019, a Moscow court sentenced Aleksey Navalny to 30 days of administrative arrest for repeated violation of the procedure for the organization of a mass public event. While serving his arrest, on July 28, Navalny was hospitalized with a preliminary diagnosis of acute allergic reaction. The politician suffered severe facial swelling and redness of the skin.

Later, Navalny's personal physician, Anastasia Vasilyeva, said that the symptoms indicated the presence of poison in his body.

On July 29, Alexey Navalny was returned to the detention center. He was diagnosed with contact dermatitis. According to chief physician of the Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, Alexei Tokarev, a chemical-toxicological study did not reveal any toxic substances in Navalny's body. However, Navalny's personal physician said that there were multiple violations made during his examination.