The missing Russian doctor who treated Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny last year has resurfaced after a poisoned attack. Alexander Murakovsky, the current health minister of the Siberian Omsk region, did not return from a hunting expedition on Friday, but did independently return from a forest in the region on Monday. Russian state news agency TASS reported this on the authority of the authorities.
Murakhovsky was hospitalized, but his condition was said to be “normal”. About 100 rescue forces have been deployed in the area to search for the missing doctor. After two other Navalny doctors died in Omsk in recent months, Murakovsky’s disappearance caused great concern in the Russian media.
A few months ago, Murakovsky was running the hospital in Omsk where Navalny was transferred when he became a patient on a domestic flight at the end of August last year. Later, Navalny was transferred to Germany and treated at a hospital in Berlin. According to several laboratory tests, he was poisoned with Novichok.
In Omsk, after hospitalization, Murakovsky stated that Navalny was not poisoned and that the first laboratory tests did not reveal any traces of Novichok. He said President Vladimir Putin’s biggest critic is dealing with metabolic disorder.
Next, Navalny accused the doctor of making a misleading diagnosis. Supporters of the opposition leader also blamed him for delaying Navalny’s transfer to Germany at a critical time.
The Kremlin has denied claims that it was behind Navalny’s assassination attempt. The United States and the European Union are calling for an independent investigation and announcing sanctions against the country. The opposition leader was immediately put behind bars upon his return to Russia in February.
