Moscow Embassy Says U.S. Monitoring Condition Of Hospitalized Kremlin Critic

Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr.

The U.S. ambassador to Moscow says the United States is monitoring the condition of Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a Kremlin critic who is in the hospital with symptoms similar to those he suffered in a mysterious illness in 2015.

In a tweet, the U.S. Embassy quoted Ambassador John Tefft as saying, "Our thoughts are with Vladimir Kara-Murza and his family."

"We’re monitoring his condition, and wish him a full and speedy recovery," the tweet posted by embassy press officer Maria Olson said.

Kara-Murza's wife, Yevgenia, told RFE/RL on February 2 that he had been hospitalized and that doctors described his condition as critical.

She later said he was on life support after suffering kidney failure and being placed in an induced coma.

Kara-Murza abruptly fell ill in Moscow on May 26, 2015, and was in critical condition for several days. He spent about two months in hospitals in the Russian capital and outside Washington, D.C.

Kara-Murza believes he was deliberately poisoned with a sophisticated toxin and that he was targeted for his political activities.

Yevgenia Kara-Murza said on February 2, "The clinical picture, according to his doctors, is the same as last time."