From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 19, 2021
Russia moves Navalny to prison hospital under Western pressure
Russia’s penitentiary service says it is transferring ailing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to prison hospital, as the EU warns it will hold Moscow “responsible” for the state of his health.
The United States on Sunday threatened Russia with “consequences” if President Vladimir Putin’s major domestic opponent — who is on hunger strike — dies in jail after Navalny’s private doctors warned over the weekend he could pass away at “any minute.”
Russia’s prison authorities — which have barred Navalny’s own medical team from visiting him — say its doctors had decided to move him to a medical facility on the premises of another penal colony outside Moscow.
But the authorities insist the jailed anti-corruption campaigner’s condition is “satisfactory,” and say he is taking vitamin supplements as part of medical treatment.
