Russian opposition figure Navalny posts photo of himself walking down stairs, says he expects full recovery from alleged poisoning

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny shared a photograph of himself walking down a flight of stairs, on Saturday morning, explaining that he is slowly regaining his strength after purportedly being poisoned last month.

In the Instagram post, Navalny said that he expected to fully recover from the August episode which resulted in him being transported to Berlin for treatment. He included a photo of himself standing up and active, but said he was still having difficulties with some motor functions. 

The Moscow protest leader added that he had struggled with talking, and for a long time he did not know how to “express his despair.” Using stairs was difficult due to his shaky legs, he noted, before saying he was glad he was slowly getting better. 

Navalny fell ill on August 20 during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. Following an emergency landing, he was immediately hospitalized in the Siberian city of Omsk. Two days later, after a request from his family and associates, the activist was flown to Germany for treatment at Berlin's Charité clinic. He remained in an induced coma until September 7.

German authorities claim that the opposition figure was poisoned with a Novichok-like nerve agent. However, the medical team that initially treated Navalny in Omsk denies that they detected any poison in his system. 

Moscow has been highly critical of the German findings, claiming that the incident has been used to level unsubstantiated allegations against Russia. On Thursday, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for sanctions over the incident. The non-binding document also urged a halt to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

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