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File image of Alexei Navalny. PA

Alexei Navalny ‘could die at any moment’, doctor says, as hunger strike continues

Navalny went on hunger strike to protest the refusal to let his physicians see him in prison.

A DOCTOR FOR imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is in the third week of a hunger strike, said his health is deteriorating rapidly and the Kremlin critic could be on the verge of death.

Physician Yaroslav Ashikhmin said that test results he received from the 44-year-old’s family show him with sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicate impaired kidneys.

“Our patient could die at any moment,” he said in a Facebook post.

Anastasia Vasilyeva, head of the Navalny-backed Alliance of Doctors union, said on Twitter that “action must be taken immediately”.

Navalny is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most visible and adamant opponent.

His personal physicians have not been allowed to see him in prison. He went on hunger strike to protest the refusal to let them visit when he began experiencing severe back pain and a loss of feeling in his legs.

Russia’s state penitentiary service has said that Navalny is receiving all the medical help he needs.

Navalny was arrested on January 17 when he returned to Russia from Germany, where had spent five months recovering from Soviet nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin.

Russian officials have denied any involvement and even questioned whether he was poisoned, which was confirmed by several European laboratories.

Asked about Navalny’s worsening condition, US President Joe Biden told reporters: “It’s totally, totally unfair and totally inappropriate. On the basis of having the poison and then on a hunger strike.”

Navalny was ordered to serve two-and-a-half years in prison on the grounds that his long recovery in Germany violated a suspended sentence he had been given for a fraud conviction in a case that he says was politically motivated.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Apr 18th 2021, 8:47 AM

    I can’t see Vlad worrying too much somehow

    210
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    Mute Rory J Leonard
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:12 AM

    @FlopFlipU:

    Too True!

    Navalny had better call off his hunger strike, as Martyrdom seems pointless.

    This Police State has too tight a grip on power right through its eleven time zones.

    At 44, Navalny is still young, in the political sense, and will have more options as Putin ages. He just needs to keep the head down for a bit, review long-term strategy, and refuse all cups of tea from strangers and just bring his own flask.

    Didn’t Vlad promise to be gone by 2036, so interesting times ahead for sowing seeds for social change and reforms in Russia, on my fronts.

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    Mute Pat O'Brien
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:57 AM

    @Rory J Leonard: such a view I can barely believe I’m reading it. Putin is a lie and a murder nd as any criminal knows you cant just retire as you will get expired. Navalni it looks like is going to die now and like our heroes of the past this will be an earthquake that will be felt worldwide. There is no greater sacrifice than this I’m in awe.

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    Mute Pat O'Brien
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:58 AM

    @Pat O’Brien: I had to amend this as it would not allow me post it so sorry if it reads poorly.

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    Mute Brendan Cahill
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:00 AM

    @FlopFlipU: Very True and glad to see the back of him.

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    Mute Diarmuid #STAYATHOME
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    Apr 18th 2021, 8:57 AM

    If Alexi Navalny dies it will suit Putin. He already tried to a few times so him dying now wouldn’t bother him unduly.
    Yes they would be international criticism but that will stop after a few months.
    Putin wins if Navalny dies

    201
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    Mute TommyC
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    Apr 18th 2021, 11:08 AM

    @Diarmuid #STAYATHOME: Alexi Navalny’s death will be a permanent marker towards political revolution in Russia. We have our own to draw reference too. Putin’s stranglehold will only be broken by the great sacrifice of people unable to stand by idly. My thoughts go out to him and his family.

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    Mute Paul Bracken
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    Apr 18th 2021, 8:54 AM

    Playing into Putins hand there.

    80
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    Mute Richard Russell
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:45 AM

    In Ireland it is only a matter of time when those who speak their minds on certain issues of policy will find themselves behind bars like Alexei

    62
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    Mute Rob Hunt
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:06 AM

    @Richard Russell: Ah poor petal, you said something horrible and got called out for it, didn’t you?

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    Mute Rob Hunt
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:06 AM

    @Rob Hunt: Yep, your twitter feed is a dumpster fire

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    Mute Gerard Heery
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:19 AM

    @Rob Hunt: six months in the slammer for you for calling Richard a “petal” Don not pass go

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    Mute Michael Burke
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:29 AM

    @Rob Hunt: “a dumpster fire”? You are too kind.

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    Mute RogersRabbit
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:33 AM

    @Richard Russell: You should be thankful you live in a place where you can say what you like about anyone. Governments here are lambasted all day everyday. Such whinging.

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    Mute Alan Watts
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:48 AM

    @RogersRabbit: didn’t a former FG government minister have the guards ‘have a chat’ with a journalist as she got off a plane because she didn’t like what was being said about her online or it highlighted that she owes the tax man a fortune

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    Mute Richard Russell
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:58 AM

    @Rob Hunt: Detective Pikachu or is it Inspector Clouseau

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    Mute john malonoy
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:40 AM

    His own choice he decided to be the mouthpeice for the west and what are they doing to help nothing they care less about him than putin does

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    Mute Josh Joyce
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:43 AM

    Putin appears to be a big fan of Stalin’s ‘no man no problem’ theory

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    Mute billy bound
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    Apr 18th 2021, 1:01 PM

    Moments before navalny was imprisoned he said to his wife that if he dies in prison it will not be by his doing.
    So are we reading the truth presented from this prison?

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    Mute Richard Russell
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    Apr 18th 2021, 9:47 AM

    In Ireland it is only a matter of time before those who speak their minds on certain issues, will find themselves behind bars like Alexei Navalny

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    Mute johnbrady
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:32 AM

    @Richard Russell: we have lunatics like Gemma doherty aloud to say anything they want so how do you figure that? Is there anything to back up your belief?

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    Mute RogersRabbit
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    Apr 18th 2021, 10:40 AM

    @Richard Russell: I’ve found one, Michéal. Throw away the key.

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    Mute Rob Gale
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    Apr 18th 2021, 11:42 AM

    @Richard Russell: as a conservative run country, we are actually very liberal when it comes to free speech. All the anti-mask and conspiracy loo-la’s have been allowed have protests to speak their sh!7€ while the rest of us get fined for having too many people at funerals.

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    Mute john malonoy
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    Apr 18th 2021, 12:13 PM

    @Rob Gale: Dr martin feeley got sacked by the HSE for disagreeing with them and the goverment not very liberal on free speech that

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    Mute Sean O'dowd
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    Apr 18th 2021, 1:12 PM

    No matter what happens Putin would get him eventually & he knows that, he must feel sacrificing he’s life will have a bigger effect than him been alive. History tells us sadly this is often the case.

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    greg
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    Mute greg
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    Apr 18th 2021, 4:01 PM

    He is not a very nice person he is in the proper place for him.

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    Mute SquideyeMagpie
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    Apr 18th 2021, 8:48 AM

    “Dead faces laugh King”

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    Mute Seán Dillon
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    Apr 18th 2021, 5:00 PM

    If he does, whats the international community going to do about it? NOTHING!!!!!

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    Mute Jonathan Gaffey
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    Apr 19th 2021, 11:13 AM

    A true patriot!!

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