Protest plan aims to get care for Navalny

• Allies of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny unveiled plans on Sunday for what they hope will be the largest protests in modern Russian history on Wednesday as Washington warned Russia it would pay a price if he died in jail from his hunger strike.

The protest date was brought forward after a medical trade union with ties to Navalny said on Saturday he was in critical condition, citing medical tests that it said showed Navalny’s kidneys could soon fail and lead to cardiac arrest.

“Things are developing too quickly and too badly,” his allies wrote in a statement on Navalny’s website, announcing their plans for nationwide street demonstrations that they portrayed as a bid to win him life-saving medical care and as a protest over a crackdown on his supporters.

“An extreme situation demands extreme decisions,” they said.

The fate of 44-year-old Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critics, is adding to already acute strains in Russia’s ties with the West. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that the U.S. government had told Russia “there will be consequences” if Navalny died in prison.

European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss the Navalny case on Monday, and Josep Borrell, the bloc’s top diplomat, pledged to hold Moscow to account over the matter too.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for Navalny to receive immediate medical care as did the U.S. State Department, while French President Emmanuel Macron said world powers should draw “clear red lines” with Russia and consider possible sanctions when they are crossed.

London was also deeply concerned by reports of the unacceptable treatment of Navalny and the continued deterioration of his health, said Britain’s foreign ministry.

The authorities have broken up pro-navalny protests by force in the past, detaining thousands, and Wednesday’s planned demonstration falls on the same day as President Vladimir Putin gives a state-of-the-nation speech.

That sets up a showdown that Navalny’s allies described as the last chance to stop Russia from sinking into “darkness.”

“A really tough final battle between normal people and absolute evil lies ahead,” they said.

Russian authorities accuse Navalny of exaggerating his medical condition to grab attention, and of refusing prison medical care. They have pledged to ensure he survives.

“He will not be allowed to die in prison, but I can say that Mr. Navalny, he behaves like a hooligan,” Andrei Kelin, Russia’s ambassador to Britain, said in a BBC interview on Sunday.