A doctor who treated Alexei Navalny last year after the Russian opposition leader was poisoned died suddenly, the hospital where he worked announced Thursday.
Sergey Maximishin served as deputy chief physician at the Omsk emergency hospital, which immediately treated Navalny after the poisonous attack the opposition leader has blamed on the Russian government. Maximishin died “suddenly” at age 55, the hospital said.
“With regret, we inform you that … the deputy chief physician of anesthesiology and resuscitation of the emergency hospital №1, assistant to the department of Omsk State Medical University, doctor of medical sciences Maximishin Sergey Valentinovich he died suddenly, “he said in a statement reported by CNN.
The hospital’s statement did not indicate any cause of death, although a spokeswoman for the Omsk regional health ministry later told CNN that Maximishin died of a heart attack, citing “preliminary data.”
Maximishin was in charge of treating Navalny after being poisoned. Navalny was placed in a medical coma before being transferred to Berlin for further treatment.
A top aide to Navalny noted that “it’s not uncommon for doctors his age to die suddenly.”
“[Maximishin] “I knew more than anyone about Alexey’s condition, so I can’t rule out the possibility of playing badly,” Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff, told CNN. “However, Russia’s health care system is very poor and it is not uncommon for him to die suddenly. I doubt there is any investigation into his death.”
CNN noted that it had no evidence that they were involved in the dirty game.
Navalny was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday after being charged with failing to serve parole requirements in 2014. Navalny argues that the charges against him are not legitimate.
Russia has denied all of Navalny’s accusations and jailed thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets in support of the opposition figure.