Putin critic Navalny starts hunger strike in jail for proper medical treatment

Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has started a hunger strike in jail seeking proper medical treatment.

The announcement appeared on his Instagram account Wednesday, CNN reported. Navalny says he has been denied treatment for pain in his legs and back. 

“I have the right to call a doctor and get medications. They give me neither one nor the other. The back pain has moved to the leg. Parts of my right leg and now of my left leg have lost sensitivity. Jokes aside, but this is already annoying,” CNN reported Navalny said.

Navalny was further quoted as saying “I announce a hunger strike with a demand for the law to be obeyed and that I’m seen by a doctor from outside. So I’m hungry, but so far I still have two legs.”

Navalny is being held in the IK-2 facility after being moved from a Moscow jail this month, The Associated Press reported. The facility has a reputation for having strict inmate routines.

The outspoken Kremlin critic was poisoned by a Soviet-era nerve agent last August and nearly died. Navalny and a number of nations, including the U.S., blamed the Kremlin, an accusation Putin has denied. Navalny recovered in Germany and was arrested upon his return to Moscow. 

He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in early February for violating parole requirements under a suspended sentence for a 2014 embezzlement charge. The Putin critic has said the charge was politically motivated.

The U.S. European Union, and United Kingdom have demanded Navalny’s release, and have sanctioned Russia over Navalny’s poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok. The Biden administration recently imposed additional sanctions on Russia over the poisoning.