Closed critic at the Kremlin Alexey Navalny he is in great pain, his lawyer said on Thursday after visiting him in prison, adding that allies fear his life.
“He suffers from severe back pain and pain in his right leg,” lawyer Olga Mikhailova said in statements to Dozhd television. “Everyone fears for his life and health.”
Earlier this month, Navalny was transferred at a prison unit about 90 miles outside Moscow and placed in solitary confinement, his lawyer Vadim Kobzev told CBS News.
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Navalny was arrested on January 17 immediately after his return to Moscow from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a Soviet-era nervous breakdown. His arrest sparked weeks of mass protests, with thousands of rallies on the streets of Russian cities, including the capital, where large crowds gathered in front of the detention unit where he was held until last week.
Thousands of people were detained amid fierce clashes with riot police.
Navalny was sentenced to two and a half years in prison last month for violating the terms of a previous suspended sentence. He has always rejected all accusations against him as politically motivated.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced that it is imposing sanctions on seven senior Russian government officials in response to Navalny’s poisoning and detention.
Alexandra Odynova contributed to this report.