Brussels 10.05.2021 Russian doctor Alexander Murakhovsky who first treated Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after he collapsed on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow last year, has disappeared, Russian police said on Sunday, May 9.
The physician was last seen leaving a hunting base in a forest in the Omsk region — around 2,200 km (1,370 miles) east of Moscow — in an all-terrain vehicle on Friday, police said.
A search effort was already underway including emergency services, drones, a helicopter and volunteers on the ground. The doctor was promoted to the position of regional health minister last November.
The doctor falsely announced that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was not poisoned but had a bout of pancreatitis and hypoglycemia has disappeared in a swampy forest, according to several Russian media outlets. Kremlin-friendly outlet Life.ru suggested that “there could have been an accident” after two bears were spotted where the doctor was last seen.
Alexander Murakhovsky, who was promoted to become minister of health of the Omsk Region days after he publicly refuted claims that someone had tried to kill Vladimir Putin’s most public foe, went hunting on a four-wheeler May 7 and has not been seen since. His hunting companions reportedly say his four-wheeler got stuck in muddy terrain behind them, and he set off on foot. He spoke to one person on his walkie-talkie but later did not respond.
Anna Van Densky blog 