Russia Moves Navalny To Prison Hospital Under Western Pressure

Russia’s penitentiary service said on Monday it was transferring ailing Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to a prison hospital, as the European Union EU warned it would hold Moscow responsible for the state of his health. The United States on Sunday threatened Russia with “consequences” if President Vladimir Putin’s major domestic opponent, who launched a hunger strike three weeks ago dies in jail, with Navalny’s private doctors warning at the weekend he could pass away at “any minute”. Russia’s prison service, which has barred Navalny’s own medical team from visiting him, said its doctors had decided to move him to a medical facility at another penal colony outside Moscow. Fears over Navalny’s fate have added more fuel to soaring tensions between Moscow and the West over a build up of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine and a spiralling diplomatic row with EU member state and the Czech Republic.