Police detain anticorruption campaigner and opposition figure Alexei Navalny during a rally in Moscow, Russia, in 2017. Picture: REUTERS/MAXIM SHEMETOVRussian opposition leader , his lawyer and personal doctor said on Monday.
Navalny on Sunday had swollen eyelids, discharge in the eye and a rash on his upper body, his doctor, Anastasia Vasilyeva, said. She told reporters on Monday that both she and the 43-year-old politician believe the reaction could have been a response to “some chemical agent”.Vasilyeva said doctors at the hospital diagnosed him with a skin condition, adding that he had improved after being treated with a steroid.
The Kremlin on Monday scrambled to contain a fresh political crisis after police crushed a peaceful rally that saw thousands take to the Moscow streets at the weekend to urge the authorities to open up the tightly controlled system.Ahead of the rally police detained a number of opposition politicians who have fought to get on the ballot.
The opposition has called for a new protest on Saturday and more than 8,000 people on Facebook indicated interest in the fresh rally. Germany slammed “the disproportionately tough police action” and urged the detained protesters' release.