Navalny ends hunger strike after being seen by civilian doctors

Jailed Russian opposition figure announces gradual end to hunger strike protest via Instagram as he thanks supporters.

Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny said on Friday he would begin gradually ending a hunger strike he had called to demand proper medical care, suggesting that support inside Russia and the West had got him much of what he needed. Navalny announced an end to his hunger strike on its 24th day after a medical trade union that supports him and which has treated him in the past appealed to him to start eating again or risk death. The worsening health of Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent domestic opponent, and the authorities’ initial failure to give him the treatment he demanded had triggered a Western diplomatic offensive designed to cajole Moscow to make concessions.