Despite attracting global attention and domestic support, the Russian political movement led by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny faces severe challenges that will probably leave it unable to meaningfully contest legislative elections later this year. On April 23, Navalny announced on social media that he was ending his prison hunger strike on the advice of his doctors, saying he had “achieved enough” in drawing attention to his case and deteriorating health condition. Several days earlier, Russian authorities also allowed civilian doctors not affiliated with the prison service to examine Navalny for the first time since his lawyers publicly raised concerns about his worsening health in late March. But Navalny is by no means out of the woods regarding his health, which has been deteriorating since he was jailed in February — due possibly to the lingering effects of being poisoned with a nerve agent during a Russian assassination attempt in August 2020.
