A doctor who treated Alexei Navalny last year, after the Russian opposition leader was poisoned, died suddenly, announced the hospital where he worked on Thursday.
Sergey Maximishin served as deputy chief physician at the Omsk emergency hospital, which treated Navalny immediately after the poison attack that the opposition leader attributed to the Russian government. Maximishin died “suddenly” at 55, the hospital said.
“We regretfully inform you that … the deputy chief physician of anesthesiology and resuscitation at the emergency hospital №1, assistant in the department of Omsk State Medical University, PhD in medical sciences Maximishin Sergey Valentinovich passed away suddenly,” the hospital said in a communication reported by CNN.
The hospital statement did not indicate the 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 he was poisoned. Navalny was put into an induced coma before being transferred to Berlin for further treatment.
An aide to Navalny noted that “it is not uncommon for doctors of his age to die suddenly.”
“[Maximishin] knew more than anyone about Alexey’s condition, so I cannot rule out the possibility of a crime, “Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief of staff told CNN.” However, Russia’s healthcare system is very precarious and it is not uncommon for doctors of her age to die suddenly. I doubt that there is any investigation into his death. “
CNN noted that there was no evidence of involvement in crime.
Navalny was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Tuesday after being charged with violating the parole requirements of a 2014 sentence. Navalny says the charges against him are not legitimate.
Russia denied all of Navalny’s charges and arrested thousands of protesters who took to the streets in support of the opposition figure.