Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny confirmed in an Instagram post on Tuesday that he is currently in Barcelona, where he recently underwent an operation on his right eye, following an attack last month in Moscow.
“They told me that my vision, unfortunately, won’t be restored for a few months,” Navalny wrote on Instagram, explaining that he’s only able to make out the largest first row of letters, when testing his vision using an eye chart.
In late April, a man sprayed antiseptic into Navalny’s face as he was exiting his office in Moscow. The substance got into Navalny’s right eye, resulting in what doctors later diagnosed to be a chemical burn.
Last week, officials issued Navalny a passport to allow him to travel abroad, despite the two suspended criminal sentences he is currently serving out in Russia. Navalny’s lawyer initially reported that prison authorities warned Navalny against leaving the country, but a spokesperson for the Moscow City Court later clarified that the two convictions against the opposition leader do not forbid him from traveling outside Russia.
On May 7, the pro-Kremlin tabloid Life.ru published a photograph of Navalny and his wife aboard an airplane apparently bound for Spain. Navalny’s presidential campaign refused to confirm or deny the reports.
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