Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, claimed that according to the results of clinical studies, Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny was poisoned

"We are dealing with a patient who, it is fairly likely, was poisoned," Seibert, told journalists during a press briefing on Monday. "Because there is a certain probability of a poison attack, protection is necessary," Seibert said, CNN reported.

Alexey Navalny is in an artificial coma, his condition is assessed as serious, but there is no acute threat to his life, the hospital said in a statement.