Alexei Navalny/Instagram
- Alexei Navalny left a Berlin hospital on Tuesday with new scars that mirror those seen on other victims of Novichok poisoning.
- Navalny, the chief critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, fell ill in Siberia on August 20. German doctors have since said that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok.
- Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, was poisoned with Novichok in March 2018, and was also seen with the scars when she left the hospital.
- The scars suggest a tracheotomy, a surgical procedure that opens a person's windpipe to help them breathe.
- Navalny spent 32 days at Berlin's Charité hospital following his poisoning, 24 of which were spent in intensive care. His team says he plans to return to Russia.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Alexei Navalny ended a monthlong stay in the hospital on Tuesday bearing scars on his neck similar to those sported by other victims of Novichok poison.
Vladimir Putin's most vocal opponent fell ill on August 20 and was evacuated to Berlin for treatment following 24 hours in a coma at a hospital in Omsk, Siberia. German doctors later concluded that he was poisoned with the deadly Novichok nerve agent.
In a Wednesday statement, the Charité hospital said Navalny was released from its care on Tuesday after a 32-day stay, of which 24 days were spent in intensive care.
Navalny on Tuesday also posted a photo of himself sporting multiple scars on his neck, which he did not have prior to the poisoning.
The scars match those seen on Yulia Skripal, another Novichok victim, upon her release from the hospital in May 2018. She and her father, the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, were exposed to Novichok in Salisbury, England, in March 2018.
At the time experts attributed Skripal's scars to a tracheotomy, which is a surgical procedure to open a hole in a person's windpipe to help them breathe.
Business Insider has contacted the Berlin Charité hospital and Navalny's FBK foundation for comment on his treatment.
REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
In the caption to the Instagram post, Navalny said once again that the Russian government was behind the attack.
"Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart: 'Navalny could have swallowed the poison himself,'" Navalny wrote, referencing a report in Le Monde which said that Putin told Emmanuel Macron that Navalny could be responsible for poisoning himself.
"Good version. I believe that it deserves the most careful study. Cooked 'Novichok' in the kitchen. Took a small sip from my flask on the plane. Fell into a coma," he wrote, apparently sarcastically.
Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's press secretary, said last week that Navalny plans to return to Russia to continue his advocacy.
Navalny fell ill during a flight from Tomsk, Siberia, where he was campaigning, to Moscow on August 20. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, Siberia, and he was taken to a nearby hospital.
But doctors at the hospital refused to let his wife and personal doctor see him for some time, and also refused to let him leave Russia for specialist treatment.
A Berlin-based charity organized Navalny's evacuation, and he was eventually permitted to leave Russia on August 21.
Yarmysh said Navalny's team initially believed his tea was poisoned. However, on September 17, Navalny and his team said that Novichok was found on several water bottles in his hotel room in Tomsk.
Navalny's team, who had remained in Tomsk after Navalny left for the airport, collected the bottles and other potential sources of the poison for analysis after hearing he had fallen ill.
Three NATO intelligence sources told Insider that they believe Putin will attempt to kill Navalny again.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3mVbKDM
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