Alexey Navalny is in stable condition but remains in a coma, German hospital says

The Charité Hospital in Berlin, where Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny is being treated for poisoning, has issued a new press release on the state of his health.

According to the statement, Navalny is being kept in a medically-induced coma and is on a ventilator. However, there has been some improvement in his symptoms caused by cholinesterase inhibitor poisoning. The doctors have assessed Navalny’s condition as stable.

“While his condition remains serious, there is no immediate danger to his life. However, due to the severity of the patient’s poisoning, it remains too early to gauge potential long-term effects,” the statement says. 

Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh said that the “doctor’s still aren’t giving a prognosis.”

Alexey Navalny has been in a coma since August 20, following an apparent poisoning. Doctors at the Charité Hospital in Berlin say they’ve found evidence that he was poisoned with a “cholinesterase inhibitor,” though the exact substance responsible for his sudden illness remains unidentified. He is currently receiving atropine — a medication used as an antidote to certain types of nerve-agent and pesticide poisonings.

In a joint investigation, the German weekly Der Spiegel and the open-source investigative outlet Bellingcat reported that doctors believe Navalny could have been poisoned with a substance from the organophosphate family, which includes nerve agents like Sarin and Novichok. This has yet to be officially confirmed.