Russia probe in pol’s illness

Russia has launched a preliminary probe into the suspected poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny amid growing pressure from world leaders.

Investigators in Siberia have been working on “establishing all the circumstances of the incident” that left Navalny in a coma last week, according to a statement released Thursday by a Siberian branch of Russia’s Interior Ministry.

They are also conducting forensic testing and collecting items “that may have probative value.”

The probe will determine whether a criminal investigation should be launched.

Navalny fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia last Thursday after, aides allege, he sipped spiked tea at an airport.

He was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk, where doctors said they don’t believe Navalny was poisoned.

He was transferred to the Charité hospital in Berlin over the weekend. Doctors there said they found indications of a “cholinesterase inhibitor” in his system but haven’t yet identified a specific substance.

Aides of Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, have blamed the Kremlin for the alleged poisoning.

The announcement comes after world leaders including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called upon Russia to launch a full and transparent investigation.

Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte discussed Navalny’s condition in a phone call Wednesday night.