Alexey Navalny announces he is going on hunger strike

Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny says he is going on a hunger strike to protest against prison officials' refusal to grant him access to proper medical care, in a post shared by his team on his official Instagram page on Wednesday. 

"I have the right to call a doctor and get medications. They give me neither one nor the other. The back pain has moved to the leg. Parts of my right leg and now of my left leg have lost sensitivity. Jokes aside, but this is already annoying," Navalny said.

Navalny informed the head of penal colony No.2 in Pokrov that he was going on a hunger strike in a handwritten letter. Images of the letter were shared by his team on Instagram. 

"I announce a hunger strike with a demand for the law to be obeyed and that I'm seen by a doctor from outside. So I'm hungry, but so far I still have two legs," Navalny said in the Instagram post. 

One of Navalny's lawyers said last week the Russian opposition figure had been suffering from acute back pain that had affected his ability to walk, and his condition was being exacerbated by alleged "torture by sleep deprivation."