Russian opposition leader ill after exposure to unknown chemical

Bloomberg

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny may have been exposed to “an unknown chemical substance” in prison that caused a severe allergic reaction for which he was hospitalised, according to his doctor, Anastasia Vasilieva.
Navalny, 43, was taken by ambulance to a Moscow city hospital for what his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said was a major allergic reaction, something she said he’d never suffered before in his life.
“We are not sure about his condition because there’s been no contact with him and his personal doctors aren’t allowed access to him,” Yarmysh said by text message.
“Alexey’s doctor suggests that his condition was caused by some toxic agent, and these suspicions are reinforced by the inappropriate response of the hospital’s doctors and police.”
Eldar Kazakhmedov, a doctor treating him at the hospital, confirmed the allergy and said Navalny had an outbreak of hives, according to the Interfax news agency.
Kazakhmedov said the patient’s condition was satisfactory and improving. “He’s feeling much better than when he was brought here,” Interfax quoted him as saying.
Russia’s most prominent Kremlin opponent, Navalny was jailed for 30 days for having appealed to supporters to join protests that took place in the capital against the authorities’ refusal to register opposition candidates for the Moscow city council elections in September. More than 1,400 people were detained at those demonstrations, the largest number since major protests hit the capital in 2012.
Navalny’s personal doctor — who treated him in 2017 when assailants splashed chemicals in his face, causing burns to his eyes — went to the hospital Sunday night but wasn’t allowed by local staff and police to complete a full examination, she wrote in Facebook.
“As the doctor who treated Alexey for burns to the surface of his eyes two years ago, I can say with confidence that both in 2017 and now, this is the result of the harmful effect of an unknown chemical substance,” she wrote. She later told the TV Rain network that she’d taken samples from his hair and clothing for analysis.
He is suffering from swelling and irritation around the eyes, as well as a skin rash, she said.