Putin critic Navalny 'will not be allowed to die in prison'

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has said that opposition activist Alexei Navalny “will not be allowed to die in prison”.

Navalny, 44, nearly died in August 2020 when he was poisoned with the chemical nerve agent, Novichock. He accuses President Vladimir Putin of ordering the poisoning, which the Kremlin denies.

He was jailed in February for old embezzlement charges and has been on a hunger strike for 18 days, to demand proper treatment for acute back pain and leg numbness.

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Andrei Kelin insisted Navalny’s medical treatment would be “taken care of”, and claimed the real purpose of his calls for medical help was to “attract attention”.

Read more: Putin critic could ‘die within days’, warn doctors

source: bbc.com