Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny shared a photograph from a Berlin hospital on Tuesday, sitting up in bed and surrounded by his family, and said he could now breathe independently after being poisoned in Siberia last month.
Emer McCarthy reports.
Sitting upright in his Berlin hospital bed surrounded by his wife and children, Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny took to Instagram Tuesday (September 15) in the clearest sign yet he's making a recovery after being poisoned in Siberia last month.
He captioned the picture, "Hi, this is Navalny.
I miss you all." "I can still hardly do anything, but yesterday I could breathe all day on my own.
Actually on my own." The post was swiftly followed by confirmation from his press spokeswoman that he planned to return to Russia.
Forty-four-year-old Navalny, the leading opponent of President Vladimir Putin, fell violently sick while campaigning on August 20 and was airlifted to Berlin.
Germany says laboratory tests in three countries have determined he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent, and Western governments have demanded an explanation from Russia.
Moscow has called the accusations groundless.
A Kremlin spokesman reiterated on Tuesday that Russia was open to clearing up what happened, but needed access to information on his case from Berlin.
He said Moscow did not understand why, if French and Swedish laboratories had been able to test his medical samples, Russia was not being given the same access.