Putin Critic Alexei Navalny in Critical Condition After Possible Poisoning
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition politician, has been suffering severe stomach pain in jail that could be the result of slow poisoning, his close ally Ruslan Shaveddinov said on April 14. “His situation is critical. We are all very concerned,” Shaveddinov said.
An ambulance was called for Navalny on the evening of April 7, his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said. Navalny is experiencing acute stomach pain and has lost a lot of weight. He could not eat the prison food provided to him because it was making his stomach pain worse, and he was banned from receiving parcels with food or buying food in the prison store. Yarmysh said she is terrified for him because there is almost no contact and he is not receiving proper medical care.
Our theory is that they are gradually killing him, using slow-acting poison, which is applied through food. It might sound like paranoia, but after the Novichok poisoning, it seems completely plausible. He lost 8 kilograms in two weeks, this hasn’t happened before, and the doctors are not telling him why he is in so much pain.
—Ruslan Shaveddinov
Not the first time: In a trip to Siberia in 2020, Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a Soviet-made nerve agent. He was treated in Berlin by German doctors who found traces in his system of cholinesterase inhibitors, indicating he had been poisoned. Navalny survived and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind the attack.
The evidence indicates that Putin believes arresting and imprisoning Navalny isn’t enough, and he hasn’t given up on torturing and eventually eliminating his critic, even after one failed attempt.
Russian prison authorities are using the cruel methods they have been refining for years to try and break the spirit of Alexei Navalny by making his existence in the penal colony unbearable, humiliating and dehumanizing.
—Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe
Putin’s poison: Putin has a reputation of attempting to eliminate his political enemies by poisoning them. The list of outspoken Putin critics who were killed or mysteriously died as a result of poison goes on and on. Putin is willing to violently eliminate anyone who threatens his position, as he is determined to stay in power.
In Ezekiel 38, the Bible speaks of “the prince of Rosh,” which Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has identified as Vladimir Putin. In his booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia,’ he writes about the importance of watching Putin’s authoritarian, Stalin-like rule:
This world has a lot of authoritarian rulers. But Vladimir Putin is one we need to keep a particularly close eye on. His track record, his nationality and his ideology show that he is fulfilling a linchpin Bible prophecy.
To learn more about Putin’s role in prophecy, order a free copy of our booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’