facebooktwittertelegramwhatsapp
copy short urlprintemail
+ A
A -
webmaster
AFP
Moscow
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Tuesday he was able to breathe unaided in his first public comments after his suspected poisoning, while his aide said he planned to return from Germany once recovered.
“Hello, this is Navalny,” he wrote in a post on Instagram that has racked up more than 1 million “likes” in a few hours. Supporters saluted what they said was the 44-year-old’s return from the dead.
Taking to social media for the first time after he fell seriously ill in Siberia on August 20, Navalny posted a picture, appearing with his wife and two children in the Berlin hospital where he was flown for treatment.
Wearing a hospital gown and sitting up in bed, he looked gaunt and barely smiled, while his wife Yulia beamed next to him.
The outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin collapsed on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow after a trip to support opposition candidates in local elections.
German experts say there is “unequivocal evidence” that Russia’s most prominent opposition figure was poisoned with Novichok, a potent nerve agent. Moscow has dismissed the findings, saying its doctors found no trace of poison.
“Yesterday I was able to breathe on my own all day,” Navalny wrote.
“It’s an amazing process and underestimated by many. I recommend it,” quipped Navalny, who has 1.8 million followers on Instagram.
“I miss you,” he told his supporters.
The anti-corruption campaigner’s suspected poisoning has sparked sharp condemnation from Western leaders, who have called for a thorough investigation and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Germany said on Monday that French and Swedish labs had independently confirmed findings by doctors in Berlin that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok.
copy short url   Copy
16/09/2020
739