Putin critic in 'grave' condition after suffering full organ failure A vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he was poisoned in 2015, has suffered "full organ failure" and is still in "grave" condition after being hospitalized in Moscow last week, his wife says.
Doctors in the hospital where Vladimir Kara-Murza, 35, is being treated say they still "have no real idea" what caused his illness, but agree a "toxic substance" is to blame, his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov told CNN.
Kara-Murza's wife, Yevgenia, told CNN that doctors have tried to bring her husband out of a medically-induced coma but that when they did so, he "had almost no reaction at all, except to his name being called." He is currently on dialysis and artificial ventilation.
She said doctors have diagnosed him with "acute intoxication by an unidentified substance" and that there is "no prognosis," adding that the risks are now more serious due to his previous illness.
Prokhorov told CNN that an investigator from the Khamovniki district of Moscow contacted him last Friday to inquire about the circumstances which led to Kara-Murza's hospitalization, but has not received any further updates about the ongoing investigation.
"The problem is that they are not paying any real attention to this," Prokhorov said. "The investigative committee is only interested in this situation because of the media coverage."
He said he has no direct proof his client was poisoned. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Kara-Murza's 2015 illness.
CNN spoke to Kara-Murza in 2015, months after a mysterious illness nearly killed him.
"I fell into a coma, all of my major organs began failing, one after another. It was the kidneys first, then the lungs, the heart, the liver," he said at the time.
He said he believed his 2015 suspected poisoning was a politically motivated attack.
"Frankly there is no other possible reason," he said. "I don't have any money dealings. I don't have any personal enemies. I didn't steal anybody's wife."
The case had parallels with the killing of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.
A British public inquiry into that 2006 poisoning found two former Russian agents responsible for carrying out the poisoning with the radioactive isotope Polonium-210. Its final report concluded that Putin was "probably" aware of the operation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the UK inquiry as politically motivated and the Kremlin said Russia wasn't involved.
In February 2015, a leading Russian opposition figure and friend of Kara-Murza, Boris Nemtsov, was shot to death on a bridge near the Kremlin as he walked home from a restaurant. Kara-Murza became ill four months later.
Kara-Murza's hospitalization has triggered an outcry from US lawmakers, who have called on the Trump administration to speak out on his behalf. US Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, said Putin should be held accountable if there is evidence the government poisoned Kara-Murza.
"Vladimir Putin does not deserve any benefit of the doubt here, given how commonplace political assassinations and poisonings have become under his regime," said Rubio, a frequent Putin critic. "I am praying that Kara-Murza's condition improves."
He urged the White House and the State Department to question Russian authorities about the case.
Kara-Murza, who splits his time between Russia and his family home in Virginia, is a dual Russian-British citizen. He is part of the Open Russia foundation, an organization of anti-Putin activists who call for open elections, a free press and civil rights reforms. When he fell ill last week, Kara-Murza was touring Russia for screenings of a documentary about Nemtsov.
Trump's disgusting boyfriend, murderer Putin strikes again and again.
Two days ago the lawyer who was going to represent the family of a whistleblower Putin murdered in 2009 was thrown out of a window and he's, surprisingly, survived the fall and is now in hospital in critical condition.
This morning, however, Putin's opponent who was hiding in Kiev (and just gave an interview to The Washington Post two days ago) wasn't so lucky - they gunned him down.
The founder of Putin's English language propaganda machine Russia Today (that Michael Flynn and Jill Stein went to Moscow to celebrate) was found dead in his DC hotel room in late 2015. Cause of death? Blunt trauma to head.
Five months, eight prominent Russians dead The brazen daytime slaying of a Russian politician outside a Ukrainian hotel this week brings to eight the number of high-profile Russians who have died over the past five months since the US presidential election on November 8.
Among the recent deaths were five Russian diplomats. Some of the deaths appeared natural and governments have ruled out foul play.
In some cases, though, questions remain. That's either because the facts have changed over time, details are hard to come by, or the deaths are still under investigation.
Self-proclaimed online sleuths and conspiracy theorists have filled the information void with speculation that the deaths were somehow related to Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. No evidence has surfaced to make such a connection.
Here's a rundown of the eight deaths—and one near fatality:
Russian politician who fled to Ukraine shot dead
Denis Voronenkov, 45, was gunned down Thursday outside a hotel in Kiev. Voronenkov and his wife both spoke out against Putin after they left Russia for Ukraine in October.
Voronenkov also helped Ukraine in its ongoing fight against Russian influence, testifying in a treason trial against ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was perceived as a puppet politician for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine's president called the shooting a "Russian state terrorist act." Russian authorities denied the accusation.
Russian ambassador to the UN suddenly dies
Vitaly Churkin, 64, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, died on February 20 of an apparent heart attack. He was "in his office fulfilling his duties" when he died, according to a statement from the Russian mission at the UN.
Russian ambassador to India dies after brief illness
Alexander Kadakin, 67, the Russian ambassador to India, died on January 26.
A spokeswoman for the Russian embassy in New Delhi said that Kadakin died after a short illness and that there was nothing "special or extraordinary" about the circumstances that led to his death.
Kadakin had worked in India since 2009. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as "a great friend of India" who worked hard to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Russian diplomat found dead in Athens
Andrey Malanin, a senior diplomat at the Russian embassy in Greece, was found dead in early January.
Malanin, 54, was the head of the Russian embassy's consular section in Athens. Police sources told CNN that worried colleagues called authorities after Malanin didn't show up to work for a few days. Police entered his apartment on January 9th and found him dead on his bedroom floor.
Initial reports from Greek police suggested Malanin died suddenly from natural causes. Two Greek police officials said foul play was not suspected. An investigation remains underway.
Former intelligence official found dead in his car
Oleg Erovinkin, who had close ties to Russian intelligence, was found dead on December 26 sitting in his car on the streets of Moscow. Russian news outlets reported that he was 61 years old. Russian government agencies have not released an official cause of death.
He was a former general in the Russian law enforcement and intelligence agency known as the FSB. He also served as chief-of-staff to Igor Sechin, the president of state-owned oil giant Rosneft. Sechin enjoys a close relationship with Putin that dates back to the 1990s.
Because of Erovinkin's background, conspiracy theorists and Russia watchers have speculated that he might have been a source of information in the 35-page dossier that detailed alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia. No evidence has emerged to firmly substantiate those claims.
Diplomat fatally shot in back
Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, 62, was assassinated in Ankara on December 20. He was shot at point-blank range by a gunman while speaking at an art exhibition. The shooter, who was a Turkish police officer, shouted "do not forget Syria" during the assassination.
Russian diplomat shot to death in Moscow
The same day as Karlov's killing, Petr Polshikov, 56, a senior Russian diplomat, was shot to death in his Moscow home, according to Moscow newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets. The paper said Polshikov's wife found him in their bedroom with a pillow over his head. Underneath the pillow, police found Polshikov with a head wound.
A spokesman from the Russian Foreign Ministry said Polshikov's death was likely an accident and had nothing to do with his official government duties, according to Russian news outlet REN-TV.
Russian official in NYC dies on Election Day
On the morning of the U.S. election, November 8, about an hour after the first polls opened in New York City, police received a 911 call about an unconscious man inside the Russian consulate. When they arrived, they found Sergei Krivov, 63, unresponsive. Emergency responders declared him dead at the scene.
Krivov, who was born in Russia, had served in the consulate as duty commander involved with security affairs, according to Russian news reports.
Russian consular officials first said Krivov fell from the roof. Then, they said he died of a heart attack.
The initial police report filed on the day of the incident said Krivov was found "with an unknown trauma to the head," according to a New York Police Department spokesman.
However, after conducting an autopsy and finishing its investigation, the New York City Medical Examiner ruled that Krivov died from bleeding in the chest area, likely due to a tumor. Police sources said foul play wasn't suspected and that Krivov had been in poor health.
Russian lawyer for whistleblower is nearly killed
Earlier this week, a private Russian lawyer on an anti-corruption crusade reportedly fell from the fourth floor of his Moscow apartment.
Nikolai Gorokhov, 53, was near death with "severe head injuries" and remains in a hospital's intensive care unit, according to his friend, investor Bill Browder.
Gorokhov represented Sergei Magnitsky, a fellow Russian lawyer who exposed Russia's largest ever tax fraud — and was later jailed and beaten to death in a Moscow detention center. Gorokhov continued his client's fight.
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