On May 26, Open Russia coordinator Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. suddenly felt ill and was hospitalized with suspected cardiovascular disease. Subsequently, this diagnosis has not been confirmed; doctors diagnosed severe kidney failure due to some intoxication.

Vladimir is in the intensive care unit in City Hospital No. 1. According to Vladimir’s father Vladimir Kara-Murza Sr., the family is now discussing treatment options:

‘I would like to express my gratitude to the Russian doctors. They are treating him as best they can, and they have him hooked up to the latest equipment. But he cannot be sustained for too long by an artificial kidney, heart and liver, and a lung ventilator So we are thinking about what to do next. The doctors even suggest bringing medical equipment from Israel and installing it here, so as to treat him where he is. They say that if Volodya cannot be moved they could come here and treat him.

Everybody is rallying round. This is one of the options, and I would not dismiss any one of them. I visit him every day, and it seems to me that it is dangerous to put him in an ambulance and take him anywhere. He is so dependent on these devices, all around his bedside, that I think it risky to switch them off. But the whole family is discussing the options. Thank God, there are still possibilities.’