Pro-Putin media are pushing a narrative that Alexei Navalny was hospitalized after heavy drinking, rather than poison, which his supporters say is a smear

• Several pro-Kremlin media outlets are pushing a competing narrative about the hospitalization of Alexei Navalny, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday.
• Kira Yarmish, Navalny's press secretary, tweeted that Navalny fell ill while on a flight on Thursday morning. "We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed into his tea," she said.
• However, pro-Putin outlets are seeking to push an alternative theory.
• The Kremlin's official Telegram channels claimed that Navalny had drunken a lot of alcohol the night before and got sick from a hangover pill he took the next day, Yarmish said, adding that this "is not true."
• MKRU, a pro-Putin newspaper in Moscow, also ran a story titled: "Source: Navalny drank moonshine before flight."
• The state-run TASS news agency reported that Russian authorities are not considering the possibility that Navalny's sickness an assassination attempt. The Kremlin has wished Navalny a "speedy recovery."

Several pro-Kremlin outlets in Russia are floating a new theory as to how President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken opponent, Alexei Navalny, was hospitalized on Thursday, suggesting he may have poisoned himself or had suffered from alcohol poisoning.

Kira Yarmish, Navalny's press secretary, tweeted on Thursday that he had fallen ill during a flight from Tomsk, Siberia, to Moscow on Thursday morning and was taken to hospital after the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk.

"We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed into his tea. That was the only thing he drank this morning," Yarmish said.

The state-run outlets Interfax, Russia Today, RBC, and RIA Novosti all cited Yarmish's allegation in their reports, but several other outlets have suggested that the claim is false.

According to Yarmish, the Kremlin's official Telegram channels had claimed that Navalny drank a lot of alcohol on Wednesday night, and took a pill for his hangover, which caused the poisoning.

"It is not true. He didn't drink yesterday and didn't take any pills today," Yarmish said.

Other outlets also shared similar theories about his illness on Thursday.

One, from the "Mash" news channel, claimed that doctors found that Navalny had a 0.2% blood alcohol level when he was admitted to the hospital.

Screenshots of the circular messages were published on social media by Navalny's supporters.

The state-run TASS news agency also reported, citing a Russian law-enforcement source, that authorities are not considering the possibility that it was an assassination attempt.

"This theory is not being considered now. It is not ruled out that he drank or took something himself yesterday," the source told TASS, suggesting Navalny may have ingested a poison by himself.

Yarmish called that report "state propaganda."

Other reports sought to tarnish Navalny's reputation on Thursday.

The state-run Sputnik News began its report on Navalny's suspected poisoning with an allegation that his political organization had shut down due to "a series of scandals around its activities and a criminal probe into the suspected laundering of around 1 billion roubles."

MKRU, a pro-Putin daily newspaper, also ran a story titled: "Source: Navalny drank moonshine before flight."

"It is also possible that on the plane the politician took sleeping pills incompatible with alcohol," the author wrote.

Both Navalny's wife and personal doctor tried to see Navalny on Thursday, but were denied entry by hospital doctors, the BBC reported.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, said it wished Navalny a "speedy recovery," according to the BBC.

As of Thursday evening, Navalny is in a serious but stable condition, and is in a coma.

A video posted to Instagram Stories by a passenger on the flight appeared to show the moment emergency workers rushed to help Navalny. In the video a man can be heard screaming.

The video was posted by a user called DJ Pavlin, who wrote in a separate post: "At the start of the flight he [Navalny] went to the toilet and he didn't come back."

"He became very ill and they could barely resuscitate him as he screamed in pain. They are not saying what is wrong with him. Now we have landed in Omsk. An ambulance came."