Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was reported poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok, has come out of the medically induced coma he was placed in and is being weaned off mechanical ventilation, the German hospital treating him said in a statement.
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, which began treating Navalny on August 21, says he is responding to verbal stimuli. However, it remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning, the hospital said.
It added that the decision to make details of his condition public was in accordance with the wishes of his wife.
Navalny, considered Russian President Valdimir Putin’s foremost critic, fell seriously ill after consuming tea at the Tomsk airport while flying to Moscow. He fell sick and started screaming in agony while aboard the flight, which was then diverted to Omsk where he received emergency treatment.
He was eventually airlifted to Berlin on a flight paid for by German NGO Cinema for Peace, where doctors determined that he was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok. After initially suspecting poisoning, Russian doctors had denied Navalny was poisoned while he was being treated in Omsk.
The incident sparked a new round of chilled relations between Germany and Russia. Some Germany officials including the country’s defence minister has now called into question the Nord Stream 2 pipeline—which is nearly complete—with suggestions that Russia face sanctions if it does not cooperate in the investigation into Navalny’s poisoning.
Novichek has been used in the past to poison a Russian ex-spy in the UK.