Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, arguably the fiercest domestic critic of President Vladimir Putin, is in a coma in a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk, his spokesperson said on Thursday.
"We believe that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed into his tea," spokesperson Kira Yarmysh said in a statement on Twitter. "He is in a coma in serious condition."
Navalny, who has led several series of protests against Putin's administration, which he accuses of widespread corruption, was on a plane from the Siberian city of Tomsk en route to Moscow when he began to feel sick, according to Yarmysh.
The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. Navalny, 44, is undergoing assisted breathing via a ventilator machine, according to his spokesperson.
There have been repeated cases of suspected poison attacks in Russian politics in recent years.
Navalny claimed last year that he had been poisoned while detained for organizing a protest movement that had gained traction in major cities throughout the country, particularly in the capital Moscow.
He had been detained at that time along with more than 1,000 people amid an opposition protest in central Moscow. A day later he was hospitalized, complaining of eye pain and changes to his skin.
Poisoned "on purpose"
"A year ago, when Alexei was in jail, he was poisoned. It's obvious they have done the same thing now," Yarmysh said.
Yarmysh said that on Thursday the tea was the only drink that Navalny had consumed.
"I am sure he was poisoned on purpose," Yarmysh told the radio station Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow).
The local health authorities in Omsk confirmed an incident had taken place. Russian state news agency TASS cited the chief doctor at the hospital as saying Navalny was in serious condition.
