Alexei Navalny out of coma and responsive after Novichok poisoning, medics say

The hospital said Navalny's condition has improved
AFP via Getty Images
Ewan Somerville7 September 2020

Alexei Navalny has been taken out of an induced coma and is responsive​, the German hospital treating the Russian opposition leader has said.

Berlin's Charite hospital said on Monday that Mr Navalny's condition has improved, allowing doctors to end the medically induced coma he has been in for more than two weeks.

The vocal Kremlin critic is being gradually eased off mechanical ventilation and is responding to speech, medics said, but "long-term consequences of the serious poisoning can still not be ruled out."

The 44-year-old, a thorn in the side of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany on August 22, two days after falling ill on a domestic flight in Russia.

German chemical weapons experts say tests show "proof without doubt" he was poisoned with Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, prompting widespread outcry and mounting pressure on Russia to investigate.

A portable isolation unit used to transport Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny to hospital
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It comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel's office further upped the ante on Moscow on Monday, indicating Germany may be willing to rethink a controversial German-Russian gas pipeline project.

Ms Merkel has demanded Russia launch an investigation into the poisoning, but Russia has denied that the Kremlin was involved and accused her of failing to provide evidence.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas said the Russian reaction could determine whether Germany changes its long-standing backing for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which brings Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.

Novichok, a lethal military-grade nerve agent, was also used in Salisbury in 2018 by suspected Russian agents to attack former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.