Alexey Navalny released from hospital back to police detention as doctors investigate mysterious skin condition

Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny has been discharged from Moscow’s Hospital No. 64 and returned to a special detention center, his doctor Anastasia Vasilyeva told the independent TV station Dozhd. Navalny was hospitalized on July 28 with an official diagnosis of a severe allergic reaction, but Vasilyeva and another physician, Yaroslav Ashikhmin, noted symptoms so severe that they became convinced Navalny may have been affected by hazardous chemicals. The doctors faced significant resistance as they attempted to gain access to their former patient, but they managed to collect Navalny’s t-shirt and hair samples for analysis before he was released. As of July 29, the opposition leader’s official diagnosis was reportedly contact dermatitis.