Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posted his first photo post recovery from a hospital bed in Germany on Tuesday, saying he is “now able to breathe without life support.”
With a tinge of sarcasm, he added he was enjoying the ability to finally breathe and people should definitely try it.
The picture showed the 44-year-old, who German authorities said was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok, sitting in a hospital bed amidst his wife and their two children.
The post was captioned: “Hi, this is Navalny. I’m missing you. I still can hardly do anything, but yesterday I could breathe the whole day on my own. Completely on my own. No external help, not even a simple ventilator in my throat. I liked it a lot. A surprising process that is under-appreciated by many. I highly recommend it.”
On August 20, Navalny collapsed on a flight to Moscow after drinking a cup of tea at the airport. After an emergency landing at Omsk, he was treated for two days by Russian doctors, who wrote off any possibility of poisoning in public statements. After two days, he was flown on a specially equipped plane to Berlin’s Charite hospital.
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Since the incident, the Russian authorities have denied all involvement in the poisoning, suggesting Navalny had fallen ill for other reasons or suggesting others had poisoned him.
On Monday, a German security official, speaking to the New York Times, said that Navalny was speaking, was aware of what had happened to him, and had expressed a desire to return to Russia. “He’s not planning to go into exile in Germany,” the official said. “He wants to go home to Russia and he wants to continue his mission.”
Priorly, Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, tweeted Navalny plans to return to Russia once he recovers.
“No other option has ever been considered,” she wrote.
