Doctors close to imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is ill and on a hunger strike, have called for immediate access to him, stating that he could suffer a heart attack "at any moment." The main Kremlin opponent has been on hunger strike since March 31 to protest the poor conditions of his detention, accusing the prison administration of preventing him from accessing a doctor and medication following a double herniated disc, according to his lawyer.
Navalny's personal physician Anastasia Vasilyeva and three other doctors, including a cardiologist, requested to see Navalny immediately, according to a letter addressed to the Russian prison administration published on Vasilyeva's Twitter account on Saturday. She stated that Navalny's potassium level in his blood has reached a "critical" level of 7.1 mmol/L, "which means that kidney dysfunction and serious heart problems could occur at any moment."
Cardiologist Yaroslav Ashikhmin stated on Facebook, "The patient with such a potassium level must be monitored in intensive care because he could experience a fatal arrhythmia at any time. He could die from a heart attack." On her part, Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh quoted doctor Alexander Poluban, who previously treated Navalny, saying it is "a complete indication for hospitalization. If treatment does not start, he will die in the coming days."
Navalny survived a poisoning incident last year that he accused the Kremlin and Russian security services of orchestrating, which Moscow denies. Kira Yarmysh, who was with Navalny when he became gravely ill after being poisoned last August, noted on Facebook that very few people have been able to see the opposition leader since his imprisonment in the Pokrov penal colony, located 100 kilometers east of Moscow, which is considered one of the most severe prisons in Russia.
In response to a question about Navalny's deteriorating condition, U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Saturday to reporters that it is "absolutely unfair." Navalny, who was arrested in January upon his return to Russia, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for violating the terms of his parole in a previous corruption case, which he described as politically motivated. His wife, Yulia, who visited him this week, confirmed that he weighs 76 kilograms, which is nine kilograms less than he weighed at the beginning of his hunger strike.
Following his imprisonment, Navalny's allies announced plans to organize "the largest protest in modern Russian history," urging Russians to support the initiative by registering on a website. As of Saturday, 440,000 out of 500,000 opposition members required to announce the date of the protest had registered. Kira Yarmysh urged Navalny's supporters to continue registering to save his life, as "Putin only responds to mass protests."
More than 70 public figures, including Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, and Benedict Cumberbatch, called for necessary medical care for Navalny in an article published on Friday in the French newspaper "Le Monde." Meanwhile, the Russian prosecutor's office on Friday urged a Moscow court to classify Navalny’s network of regional offices and his anti-corruption foundation as "extremist organizations."
