Navalny could 'die within days', say doctors: BBC

Doctors for the jailed Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny say he "will die within the next few days" if not given medical attention, reported British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Doctors say recent blood test results indicate he could suffer cardiac arrest or kidney failure at any moment, said the BBC report.

Navalny has been on a hunger strike for 18 days, to demand proper treatment for acute back pain and leg numbness.

Four doctors, including his personal physician, Anastasia Vasilyeva, have written to prison officials to ask for permission to see him urgently, the BBC report added.

A Moscow court on 2 February sentenced Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to 3.5 years in real jail time in defiance of pressure from domestic protesters and Western countries.

Navalny was detained by FSIN officers on 17 January upon his landing at a Moscow airport from Germany, where he received medical treatment for alleged poisoning over the past months.

The activist fell into a coma on a flight from the Russian city of Tomsk to Moscow on Aug. 20, 2020. He was then transferred to a hospital in Berlin with suspected poisoning symptoms.

In early September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent.