After going missing, the former head of the Russian hospital that treated Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny last year has emerged from a Siberian forest. Dr. Alexander Murakhovsky allegedly disappeared from a hunting base on Friday, prompting a search and rescue mission consisting of helicopters, drones, and fleets on foot in the swampy Omsk region. On Monday, Dr. Murakhovsky turned up in a village, in good condition, 20 miles from the hunting base where he originally went missing. His vehicle was found another 6.5km away from the base in Pospelovo, another village.
Last August when opposition activist Alexei Navalny collapsed on a flight after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, he was transported to Omsk, then Berlin, where the source of his illness was determined. Two senior doctors at the same hospital in Omsk died earlier this year, aged 55 and 63. Dr. Murakhovsky, when treating Navalny, had insisted the hospital found no trace of nerve agent when assessing Navalny’s condition. The Kremlin has denied allegations that it has tried to use Russian state agents to kill Navalny. Three separate tests conducted by Western countries confirmed the presence of chemical weapons in Navalny’s system, despite the original diagnosis in Omsk.
Read More: Russian top doctor who treated Navalny emerges from forest
