Alexei Navalny in ‘critical’ situation after possible poisoning, says ally

Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, has been grappling with severe stomach pain in jail that could be the result of slow-acting poison, a close ally said on Friday. “His situation is critical, we are all very concerned,” Shaveddinov told the Guardian in a phone interview. “We understand that the situation must have been very bad if an ambulance was called,” he said, adding that prison authorities refused to have Navalny admitted to hospital. There had been no update on Navalny’s health condition since the ambulance arrived, Shaveddinov said, because “the prison authorities are doing everything possible to isolate him”. Navalny was poisoned with novichok, a Soviet-made nerve agent, on a trip to Siberia in 2020.