Russian dissident Navalny recovering faster than expected

Russian opposition leer Alexei Navalny is recovering from suspected assassination attempt last month faster than expected, one of his aides said Sunday.

Navalny, who collapsed on a plane from Siberia to Moscow on Aug. 20 and spent nearly three weeks in a coma, was discharged last week from Berlin hospital where he was being treated. His doctors said that based on Navalny’s progress a “complete recovery is possible.”

“He is doing much better, I would say unexpectedly better," Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff, told German brocaster RTL. "I think recovery is really faster than expected, and of course this is good news that makes us very happy.”

Navalny, a longtime foe of Russian President Vlimir Putin , is still receiving outpatient treatment and remains under close protection, Volkov said.

“I personally don’t think that ar attack can happen in Berlin, but we can see that personal security has a different opinion,” he said. "He is guarded quite heavily.”

Germany authorities have said Navalny was poisoned with a powerful nerve nt and called on Russia to investigate attack that occurred on its territory.

presence of Soviet-era nerve nt vichok in Navalny’s samples was corroborated by labs in France and Sweden. But Russia has resisted international pressure to launch a criminal investigation, saying its own tests found trace of poisous substances in opposition leer’s system.

poisoning "h so many negative consequences for Kremlin,” said Volkov, ding that in his opinion attempted assassination couldn't have occurred without Putin's approval.

Navalny has said that he intends to return to Russia to resume his work.

“He understands risks quite well, and we are supposed to think somehow how he can continue living in Russia,” Volkov told RTL. "It will t be so easy and many things will change, for sure, to reduce probability of a second attack.”