Navalny recounts poisoning experience; says 'felt no pain, could sense this was the end'

In the first-ever interview in months, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has opened up about his experience of poisoning. Speaking to a German magazine Der Spiegel, the 44-year-old said that he first felt unwell while his flight from Siberia.  With “cold sweat” pouring down his forehead, he had thought that he was dead but destiny had other plans for him.

Read: Russia's Navalny Accuses Putin Of Being Behind Poisoning

Read: US Senators Request Trump To Initiate Probe Into Kremlin Critic Navalny's Poisoning

Recalling the horrors, Navalny said that he was on his way home when something felt “gravely wrong”.  Suddenly, cold sweat began pouring down his eyebrow but he felt no pain. It was at that moment that he thought he’d die.

‘They thought it was food poisoning’

After splashing his face with water, the Kremlin critic approached the flight attendant. Instead of asking for help, to his own surprise, he told the attendant that he has been poisoned. However, they thought that it was the badly cooked chicken which had given him food poising. Following this, all voices slowly dimmed and everything faded. At this point, he says, he was sure he’d die but he was saved.

Navalny also said he was grateful he could fly to Berlin for treatment, saying that move had saved his life a second time after the emergency care he received in Russia. However, in his interview, he criticized officials who he said succumbed to Putin's pressure.

Read: Kremlin Accuses Navalny Of Working With CIA; Putin's Critic To Sue Govt Spokesperson

Read: Russian Parliamentarian Lambasts Navalny, Says Putin 'saved' His Life

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has accused Navalny of working with the Central Intelligence Agency, a foreign intelligence service of the US, soon after Navalny held Putin’s responsible for the suspected poisoning. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “specialists” of the CIA are working with Navalny as the Russian leader continues with his recovery process in Germany.

The accusation from Peskov is apparently the first time when Russian authorities have accused the anti-corruption campaigner of working with a foreign intelligence agency. Navalny said he would sue the Kremlin spokesperson and demand the publication of evidence and facts indicating that he works with “CIA specialists.”