Air ambulance to pick up Russian opposition figure Navalny – German NGO

A woman holding a placard with an image of Alexei Navalny expresses support for opposition leader after he was rushed to intensive care in Siberia suffering from what his spokeswoman said was a suspected poisoning, in downtown Saint Petersburg on August 20, 2020. (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP)

BERLIN — An air ambulance will be dispatched from Berlin to collect Alexei Navalny on Thursday night, the head of a German NGO told AFP as the Russian opposition figure was fighting for his life in a Siberian hospital after a suspected poisoning.

“We will send at midnight an air ambulance with medical equipment and specialists with which Navalny can be brought to Germany,” said Jaka Bizilj, who heads the Cinema For Peace foundation, adding that Berlin’s Charite hospital was ready to treat Navalny.

“We are in contact with the authorities and hope that all permits for the transport and a medical report for the coma patient will be given tonight,” he added.

Bizilj had earlier said a group of activists including his NGO were trying to bring Navalny to Berlin for treatment.

The organization has a history of supporting Russian opposition members and arranged a medical evacuation in 2018 for a member of the Pussy Riot punk band, Pyotr Verzilov, after a suspected poisoning.

Navalny, a 44-year-old lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner who is among President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, was hospitalized in the city of Omsk after he lost consciousness during a flight and his plane made an emergency landing.

Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said he was on a ventilator in a coma and his condition was serious but stable.

His team said the hospital was ill-equipped and his doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva said she had asked for the Kremlin’s help to transfer him to a European clinic.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov wished Navalny a “speedy recovery” adding that the Kremlin would help move him abroad if needed.

Berlin’s Charite hospital also treated Verzilov two years ago. He was discharged about 10 days later after his condition improved significantly.

The leaders of France and Germany expressed concern earlier Thursday for Navalny and offered their assistance at a joint news conference.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the news had “truly upset me”.

“I hope that he can recover and naturally whether it be in France or in Germany he can receive from us all the help and medical support needed”, she said.

Merkel said European leaders will “demand explanations” for what happened “because from what we hear it is not very clear and the conditions of this poisoning should be more transparent.”