Russia’s Navalny out of induced coma, is responsive — hospital

The German hospital treating Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he has been taken out of an induced coma and is responsive.

Navalny, a fierce, high-profile critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany on August 22, two days after falling ill on a domestic flight in Russia. German chemical weapons experts say tests show that the 44-year-old Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent, prompting the German government last week to demand that Russia investigate the case.

Berlin’s Charite hospital says that Navalny’s condition has improved, allowing doctors to end the medically induced coma and gradually ease him off mechanical ventilation. It notes that he is responding to speech but “long-term consequences of the serious poisoning can still not be ruled out.”

He has been in an induced coma in the Berlin hospital since he was flown to Germany for treatment.

— AP