Russia elections: Two Navalny allies win in Siberian city where he was 'poisoned'

Two allies of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny won local parliament seats in the Siberian city of Tomsk where he was allegedly poisoned in August. The 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner had sought to weaken United Russia's grip on regional power and had urged the citizens and supporters to vote against the ruling party.

On September 13, Russians voted in several local elections targeted by Navalny that will gauge the ruling United Russia party’s power and people’s discontent following the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic. According to early results, Andrei Fateev and Ksenia Fadeeva won in two constituencies, while the ruling party topped the overall polls in Tomsk with 24.46 per cent of the vote.

Several communist and nationalist politicians were part of Navalny’s campaign in many regions which triggered speculations around Kremlin’s hand behind his suspected poisoning. German health authorities had earlier confirmed the poisoning of Navalny with a nerve agent from the Novichok group, citing toxicological test results.

The Soviet-style nerve agent from the Novichok group used to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was “harder” than previous forms, a German magazine reported last week. According to Der Spiegel, Germany’s foreign intelligence service informed in a “secret meeting” that the strength of the toxin indicates the possible involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the case.

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Russian police seek access

Navalny has been removed from a medically-induced coma as his health condition improved. Berlin’s Charité University hospital said in a statement that the Kremlin critic, who fell unconscious during a flight due to alleged poisoning and was transferred to the hospital on August 22, will be gradually taken out of the ventilator support.

Russian police are seeking access to Alexei Navalny for questioning after Moscow rubbished Germany’s findings in Kremlin critic’s toxicology report. The Siberian transport police said in a statement that Russia would prepare a request to let its officers and an “expert” shadow German investigators as they probe Navalny’s case.

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(Image: AP)