Russia News: Vladimir Putin Critic May Have Been Poisoned, Suffers Major Allergic Reaction In Prison

Alexei Navalny, a leader in the Russian opposition movement and staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin, seemingly suffered a “severe” allergic reaction Sunday and was hospitalized while serving a 30-day prison sentence, his spokeswoman reported.

Navalny reportedly suffered significant swelling of the face and bodily rashes from an unknown allergic reaction. The spokeswoman confirmed that Navalny had never suffered a reaction like in the past.

The BBC reported that Navalny was discharged from hospital and returned to prison on Monday morning despite protests from his doctor, Anastasia Vassilieva. Given that he was “not allergic to anything,” she believes that he may have been exposed to a “toxic agent.”

“It was a toxic reaction to a chemical, it was definitely some chemical agent," she said. "It's absurd to call it an allergy.”

Former Ukraine first lady Kateryna Yushchenko, whose husband Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned in 2004, tweeted out her support of Navalny.

“This brings back horrific memories of September 2004,” Yushchenko said. “Our doctors also balked at diagnosing what happened to my husband as poison. And some doctors with security pasts tried to cover it up. Recommend Alexei get treatment in Europe ASAP.”

In a video posted to Instagram, Navalny claimed that he was arrested while taking a jog and picking up flowers for his wife’s birthday.

Navalny, who has called Putin's party "crooks and thieves," was arrested last week and sentenced to 30 days in prison after calling for protests against opposition candidates being kept off Moscow's local ballots.

This call to action resulted in thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets Saturday and leading to 1,300 arrests.

Russian election authorities defended the move, saying that the opposition candidates had failed to procure enough signatures. The candidates themselves deny this reasoning, insisting that their exclusion is a political tactic.