German NGO sends in ambulance plane to pick up 'poisoned' Kremlin critic Navalny at Pussy Riot co-founder's request

The Berlin-based Cinema for Peace Foundation has readied an ambulance aircraft, specialized for transporting coma patients, to pick up Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny to transfer him to Germany for treatment.

The NGO said the plane will fly to Russia late on Thursday. The activists noted the transfer was requested by Navalny’s fellow opposition figure, Pyotr Verzilov, best known as the co-founder of the punk band Pussy Riot.

“For humanitarian reasons, at Pussy Riots Pyotr Verzilov's request, we will send at midnight an air ambulance with medical equipment and specialists with which Navalny can be brought to Germany,” the foundation said, adding that Berlin's Charite hospital was ready to take him in.

It was not immediately clear whether this transfer will be actually allowed by Russian health authorities, given the seriousness of Navalny’s condition.

Navalny lost consciousness earlier in the day when he was on board a plane. The aircraft had to make an emergency stop in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the opposition activist is currently in a coma at a hospital. The doctors treating him said they’ve managed to stabilize Navalny’s condition and he was getting the necessary treatment in an intensive care unit.

It remains unclear what exactly happened to the activist and anti-corruption blogger. While his supporters were quick to claim he might have been poisoned and that he had drunk nothing but tea before the flight, his critics suggested his condition might have been a result of abusing hard alcohol and throwing some illicit substances into the mix. Still, no actual evidence to corroborate either of these versions has emerged so far.

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