The European Union (EU) has called for an independent Russian investigation into the condition of Alexey Navalny, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said on Monday (local time).
"The preliminary test results from the Charite - Universitatsmedizin hospital in Berlin indicate that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned during his stay in Siberia. ... It is imperative that the Russian authorities initiate an independent and transparent investigation into the poisoning of Navalny without delay," Borrell said in a statement.
Earlier on Monday, the doctors treating Navalny in the Berlin-based Charite hospital claimed they had found traces of intoxication with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors in his body.
Omsk chief toxicologist Alexander Sabayev said that upon his admission to the Omsk hospital, Navalny was tested on a wide range of narcotics, synthetic substances, psychodiletics and medicinal substances, including cholinesterase inhibitors, but all tests came back negative.
According to Sabayev, Navalny did not have any symptoms specific to the poisoning with cholinesterase inhibitors.
Last Thursday, Navalny suffered an acute health condition and went into a coma during a domestic Russian flight. Following an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk, he was hospitalised with suspected poisoning as one of the possible reasons behind his condition.
Russian doctors subsequently found no poison traces in Navalny's samples and said that the deterioration was caused by an abrupt drop of glucose in his blood due to a metabolic disbalance.
On Saturday, Navalny was flown to Berlin for further treatment. According to a statement from Aleksandr Murakhovsky, the lead doctor of the Omsk hospital, German doctors said in a letter that Navalny's condition remained steadily grave and thanked the Russian colleagues for saving his life. (/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
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