Russian opposition figure Navalny's recovery continues: Removed from ventilator and can now leave bed, says German hospital

Alexey Navalny's condition continues to improve, and the Russian anti-corruption activist is now able to leave his bed. That's according to the press service of Charité University in Berlin, where he is currently being treated.

When he arrived in Germany, after being flown from Russia, his condition was deemed “serious” but “not currently life-threatening.” Over the last three weeks, Navalny’s well-being has gradually improved, and last week it was announced that he was being weaned off artificial ventilation.

The latest hospital statement has revealed that Navalny has successfully been removed from a ventilator and is undergoing patient mobilization.

The well-known protest leader and anti-corruption campaigner was taken ill on August 20 during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, which was forced to land in the Siberian city of Omsk. Two days later, after a request from his associates, Navalny was flown to Berlin's Charite clinic. Shortly after his arrival in Germany, doctors announced that he had been poisoned with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors, which are chemicals used in drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Over a week later, Berlin announced that the opposition figure was poisoned with a nerve agent from the 'Novichok' group. The findings in Germany directly contradict the medical professionals in Omsk, who deny that any poison was found in the opposition figure's body. On Monday, the German authorities claimed laboratories in both Sweden and France had confirmed their findings.

Following the alleged poisoning, fingers have been pointed at the Kremlin. Last week, Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador, after German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas claimed evidence of Russian state involvement.

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