Russia moves Navalny to prison hospital under Western pressure

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia’s penitentiary service said Monday it was transferring ailing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to a prison hospital, as the EU warned it would hold Moscow responsible for the state of his health.

The United States on Sunday threatened Russia with “consequences” if President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic opponent dies in jail.

Navalny launched a hunger strike three weeks ago and his private doctors warned over the weekend he could pass away at “any minute.”

Russia’s prison service, which has barred Navalny’s own medical team from visiting him, said its doctors had decided to move him to a medical facility at another penal colony outside Moscow.

But it insisted the anti-corruption campaigner’s condition was “satisfactory,” and said he was taking vitamin supplements as part of medical treatment.

Fears over Navalny’s fate have further worsened relations between

Moscow and the West, already strained over a Russian troop buildup along the border with Ukraine and a diplomatic row with EU member state the Czech Republic.

As the European Union’s 27 foreign ministers held virtual talks Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc held the Russian authorities responsible for Navalny’s health.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas added that the EU would be watching closely to see that Navalny was getting the medical care he needed.

And Britain’s foreign minister Dominic Raab tweeted that Russia “must grant him immediate access to independent medical care release him from his politically motivated imprisonment.”

The Kremlin has dismissed the outcry from foreign leaders over the condition of the 44-year-old, who last year came close to death after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok.