Colleagues of the leader of the Russian opposition Alexei Navalny are again seriously concerned about his health. This is what spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said news hour. Navalny is said to have lost 8kg after being in solitary confinement for 15 days and suffering from severe stomach problems.

The Kremlin critic on Twitter described conditions in the prison where he is serving a 12-year sentence as “extreme hell”. On Friday, he was removed from the isolation cell after 15 days, which is the maximum number of consecutive days a prisoner may be in isolation. Three days later, last Monday, I was sent back there.

Yarmesh says that an ambulance was called for Navalny on the night from Friday to Saturday because of severe pain in his stomach. According to the spokesman, the prison doctor did not take the complaints seriously. “So Alexey doesn’t know what’s wrong with him and it’s not being treated.”

Yarmysh describes the situation as very worrying and says that Navalny’s health is deteriorating every day. According to her, it cannot be ruled out that the opposition leader is slowly being poisoned in prison. “Not to kill him directly, but to make him sick steadily.”

This is the thirteenth time that Navalny has been placed in solitary confinement in a penal colony about 100 kilometers east of Moscow. This happened a day after his colleagues launched an investigation into corruption surrounding food prices in the penal camp.

A bright light burns day and night in the solitary cell, and during the day his bed is placed against the wall so that he only sits on the floor and is not allowed to buy anything from the prison shop. The latter is worrisome, says Yarmysh’s spokesman, because “it is impossible for prisoners to survive on prison food alone.”

Navalny’s lawyers are the only ones who are allowed to visit him, but according to Yermysh, excuses are made regularly in prison to prevent them from entering prison. “But there are almost daily hearings for Alexei’s case, so at those times he sees his lawyer through a video screen.”