Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, has been grappling with severe stomach pain in jail that could be the result of slow-acting poison, a close ally said on Friday.
Ruslan Shaveddinov said an ambulance was called last week to the maximum security IK-6 penal colony at Melekhovo, about 155 miles (250km) east of Moscow, where he is being held.
“His situation is critical, we are all very concerned,” Shaveddinov told the Guardian in a phone interview.
“We understand that the situation must have been very bad if an ambulance was called,” he said, adding that prison authorities refused to have Navalny admitted to hospital.