Alexei Navalny’s doctor suddenly dies at 55

A 50-something doctor, who treated Alexei Navalny in emergency when Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political enemy was poisoned last year, has died.

Media outlets including CNN reported Thursday that Navalny’s doctor, Sergey Maximishin, died suddenly at age of 55 on the day. Russia’s Omsk emergency hospital said, “We announce that regrettably deputy chief physician in charge of anesthesiology and resuscitation of the emergency hospital suddenly died. Serving in the hospital for 28 years, he saved thousands of lives, but passed away too prematurely.” The hospital shopped short of disclosing the exact cause of his death.

Dr. Maximishin was a member of the medical team that gave emergency treatment to Navalny when the latter fell into comatose while displaying signs of poison in a flight from Siberia to Moscow on Aug. 20 last year. He was the top medical doctor in charge of anesthesiology and resuscitation at the time.

Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov said, “Maximishin knew about Alexey's condition better than anyone else when he was in comatose state, so I can't dismiss the possibility of murder.”


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