Putin Critic Alexei Navalny 'Could Die At Any Moment,' Doctor Says
(NPR)
Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is three weeks into a hunger strike protesting the lack of medical attention he's received while in prison. Now, his doctor fears his death is imminent.
Physician Yaroslav Ashikhmin said test results that Navalny's family shared with him reveal increased potassium levels, which could lead to cardiac arrest, as well as heightened creatinine levels from deteriorating kidneys.
"Our patient could die at any moment," Ashikhmin wrote, according to a translated version of his Facebook post on Saturday.
Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, also said the 44-year-old politician is in ailing health and that he's lost sensation in his limbs.
"Alexei is dying," Yarmysh said on Facebook. "In his condition, it is a matter of days. And on the weekend lawyers just can't get to him, and no one knows what will happen on Monday."
