Sharpening his criticism on prison conditions, jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Monday claimed a third person out of the 15 inmates in his unit have been hospitalised with tuberculosis since he arrived at the penal colony in February. “I am surprised that there is no Ebola virus here,” he wrote on Instagram, adding that “such is our ‘ideal, exemplary colony,'” reported AFP.

Also read: Alexei Navalny claims he is being ‘tortured’ through sleep deprivation

His statement came after pro-Kremlin media outlets on Friday launched an offensive to disprove his complaints of mistreatment and lack of medical attention.

Navalny launched a hunger strike last Wednesday demanding adequate medical treatment. He complained that the prison doctor only gave him painkillers as treatment for severe back pain and numbness in his legs.

His team, the next day, said he had already lost 8 kg since he arrived at the penal colony in February.

Two reports in pro-Kremlin outlets on Friday described Navalny as looking “quite normal” and said he was incarcerated in a “practically exemplary” penal colony.

He denounced the reports and said they didn’t have a “single word of truth.”

Meanwhile, he said, he would continue his hunger strike, despite a heavy cough and fever.

“I am quoting the official data from today’s temperature measurement: ‘Navalny A.A., strong cough, temperature 38.1’,” he wrote on Instagram on Monday.

“P.S. I am continuing my hunger strike, of course,” Navalny (44) added.

Later the pro-Kremlin Izvestia daily said that Navalny had been transferred to a medical unit for observation, with “signs of a respiratory problem, notably a high fever”.

All the necessary tests were carried out, including a coronavirus test, the paper said, citing prison services.

There was no confirmation of such a transfer from the Navalny camp.

Also read: Alexei Navalny compares prison routine to that of Star Wars’ ‘stormtrooper’

Navalny was arrested on his return to Russia in January, after spending months in Germany recovering from a poisoning last summer that he blames on the Kremlin.