Russia

Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Speaks for the First Time Since Nerve Agent Attack

‘I MISS YOU’

The Russian opposition leader has addressed his supporters four weeks after he was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

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Alexei Navalny/Instagram

Vladimir Putin’s nemesis Alexei Navalny has posted on social media for the first time since a nerve agent attack left him critically ill last month. On Instagram, the Russian opposition leader posted a photo from his hospital bed Tuesday morning and addressed his supporters four weeks after he was poisoned after drinking a cup of tea at a Russian airport. “Hi, this is Navalny,” he wrote. “I miss you. I still can hardly do anything, but yesterday I was able to breathe on my own all day... I did not use any outside help, not even the simplest valve in my throat. I liked it very much.” The poison that struck down Navalny has been identified as Novichok—a nerve agent concocted by Soviet scientists during the Cold War. Navalny’s second-in-command told The Daily Beast last week that she suspects her boss was attacked by men sent by close Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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