Kara-Murza’s father now says his son was poisoned

Ever since Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza landed in the hospital with a mysterious illness, his father has told reporters that he believes the incident is most likely an accident, not an attack on his son. (He famously told the media, "It could have been stale kefir, for all we know.") According to the BBC, that changed today, when Kara-Murza’s father said he now believes his son was poisoned.

In addition to being a leading member of the opposition party RPR-PARNAS, Vladimir Kara-Murza works as a coordinator at Open Russia, a civic group founded by former political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

On May 26, Kara-Murza was hospitalized after suddenly collapsing. The 34-year-old later slipped into coma, and his condition was critical for several days. On June 3, he regained consciousness and doctors say his health is slowly improving.

Doctors have determined that Kara-Murza’s condition is too fragile to move him to a foreign hospital, but medical samples have been shipped abroad for additional analysis. There is still no official diagnosis to explain his sudden ill health, but some form of poisoning—intentional or accidental—is rumored to be a possibility.