Vladimir Putin foe Alexei Navalny to end prison hunger strike on 24th day

MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he is ending his hunger strike after getting medical attention and being warned by his doctors that continuing it would put his life at risk.

In an Instagram post on the 24th day of his hunger strike, the prominent critic of Vladimir Putin said he will continue to demand a visit from his doctor to address numbness in his legs and arms.

That was his main demand when launched his hunger strike. But he said he would now start “coming out of the hunger strike.”

The 44-year-old politician also acknowledged and thanked the thousands of people who turned out in demonstrations across Russia on Wednesday.

Navalny has been in jail since January. He was arrested as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent about five months recovering from a poisoning with a nerve agent that blames on the Kremlin, though Russian officials reject that claim.

He was then put on trial for violating terms of a suspended sentence stemming from a 2014 embezzlement conviction, which he claims was politically motivated. He was ordered to serve the rest of a 2½-year sentence, The Associated Press reports.

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