Putin Opposition Leader Poisoned

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is reported to be in a coma following a suspected poisoning. The Associated Press reports:

"The 44-year-old foe of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin felt unwell on a flight back to Moscow from Tomsk, a city in Siberia, and was taken to a hospital after the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said on Twitter.

She told the Echo Moskvy radio station he must have consumed something from tea he drank at an airport cafe before boarding the plane early Thursday. During the flight, Navalny started sweating and asked her to talk to him so that he could 'focus on a sound of a voice.' He then went to the bathroom and lost consciousness, and has been in a coma in grave condition ever since." (our emphasis)

Protests across Russia against thuggish Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin have been growing, as their economy collapses and as he moves to consolidate power into the future.

Putin's pattern of criminal behavior comports with this suspected poisoning. Putin thugs were the likely killers of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov just steps from the Kremlin in 2015. Nemtsov is just one of several opponents of Putin who have met violent or suspicious deaths both inside and outside Russia for having spoken out against him.

Demagogue and would-be autocrat Donald "Tovarich" Trump's admiration and fealty to Putin should tell you all you need to know about his judgement, character, and plans if he should steal the election for another four years. Our democracy is at stake in the hands of this Putin puppet.

(photo: Navalny at a recent rally. Yuri Kochetkov/EPA)