MOSCOW, 24 April, 2021 (TON): On Friday, the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny said that he is ending his hunger strike after getting medical attention and being warned by his doctors that continuing it would put his life at risk.

In a social media post on the 24th day of his hunger strike, Navalny said he will continue to demand a visit from his doctor to address numbness in his legs and arms that ought to be his main demand.

He also acknowledged Wednesday’s mass pro-Navalny protests across Russia and multiple letters and statements supporting him from public figures and government officials around the globe.

“Thanks to the huge support of good people across the country and around the world, we have made huge progress,” Navalny said in his message from behind bars.

“Two months ago, my requests for medical help were prompting smirks. I wasn’t given any medications. Thanks to you, now I have been examined by a panel of civilian doctors twice,” he added.

He said, another reason he was ending the hunger strike was that some of his supporters were refusing to eat in a show of solidarity with him.

Navalny started the strike 31 March, after developing severe pain in his back and loss of sensation in his legs.

Prison officials have said he was getting all the medical help he needs, but Navalny insisted he effectively received no treatment.

However, Navalny’s doctors stated that they feared he was close to dying because his test results showed sharply elevated levels of potassium, which can bring on cardiac arrest, and heightened creatinine levels that indicated impaired kidneys.