Putin Critic Alexei Navalny 'Could Die At Any Moment,' Doctor Says

A doctor for imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is in the third week of a hunger strike, said on Saturday that his health is deteriorating rapidly and the 44-year-old Kremlin critic could be on the verge of death.

Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

 Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is three weeks into a hunger strike protesting the lack of medical attention he's received while in prison. Now, his doctor fears his death is imminent.

Physician Yaroslav Ashikhmin said test results that Navalny's family shared with him reveal increased potassium levels, which could lead to cardiac arrest, as well as heightened creatinine levels from deteriorating kidneys.

"Our patient could die at any moment," Ashikhmin wrote, according to a translated version of his Facebook post on Saturday.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/18/988437875/putin-critic-alexei-navalny-could-die-at-any-moment-doctor-says