Doctors treating Russian President Vladimir Putin’s critic – Alexey Navalny have said that Navalny has come out of the medically induced coma and his position has also improved.
The Berlin based Charité Hospital said in a statement that Navalny is being weaned off mechanical ventilation and is responding to verbal stimuli.
A statement from the hospital read, “He is responding to verbal stimuli. It remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning.”
Navalny was flown to Germany, after falling ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was immediately taken to a hospital in the Siberian City of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing. Later, he was transported to Berlin on a medical evacuation flight paid for by the German non- governmental organisation – Cinema for Peace.
The Chancellor of Germany – Angele Merkel has said that Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. She has accused Russia of poisoning Putin’s critic. She also has the support of United Kingdom (U.K.) and European Union (E.U.) who have sought explanation from Russia for using a banned chemical weapon.
Announcing Navalny’s recovery, his Spokeswoman – Kira Yarmysh, tweeted, “News about Alexei. Today he was taken out of induced coma. Gradually he will be switched off from a ventilator. He responds to speech and to being addressed to.”
However, Putin has denied all these charges. In the past, there have been several attacks on high-profile critics or opponents of President Putin, including politicians, intelligence officers and journalists but Kremlin has always denied all these involvements.
Putin’s Spokesman – Dmitry Peskov has said, “Attempts to somehow associate Russia with what happened are unacceptable to us, they are absurd.”
The Russian Government has also said that it is waiting for further information from Berlin before opening a probe into Navalny’s poisoning. Germany has dismissed this explanation. Germany says that all evidence, witnesses, traces, etc. are located in the place where the crime was perpetrated, presumably somewhere in Siberia.
Meanwhile, a Senior German Member of Parliament has asked to halt the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea. But a Spokesman for the German Government said that it was too early to make a decision about Nord Stream.
Nord Stream is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany. It includes two lines running from Vyborg to Greifswald forming original Nord Stream and two lines under construction running from Ust-Luga to Greifswald termed as Nord Stream 2. Nord Stream is owned and operated by Nord Stream AG, whose majority shareholder is the Russian state company Gazprom. The first line of Nord Stream was laid in May 2011. The second line of Nord Stream was laid in 2011–2012 and is expected to become operational this year.
The energy project has a potential to double the flow of Russian gas to Europe. With recent development of Navalny, the relations between Germany and Russia have turned tense. The Russian Energy Ministry opines that the project must be completed on time.
