Navalny Posts First Photo After Poisoning

The news about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been getting better from the hospital, and Tuesday brings the most optimistic update yet—from Navalny himself. The 44-year-old posted a photo of himself on Instagram from his hospital room in Germany with his wife and two medical workers, reports NBC News. "I still can’t do many things, but yesterday I could breathe by myself the whole day," Navalny wrote in the caption. "I did not use any outside help, not even the simplest valve in my throat.” He joked, "I recommend it," per Sky News, and he added to his supporters, "I miss you all."

Multiple international labs have concluded that Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, which was developed by the Soviet Union and has been used to poison other Russian figures. Much is unknown about Navalny's recovery, including whether he will suffer any long-term damage. But the New York Times reports that he already is planning to return to Russia as soon as he is able and that he has spoken to a German prosecutor about his case. “He’s not planning to go into exile in Germany,” says a spokesman for the German government. “He wants to go home to Russia and he wants to continue his mission.” (More Alexei Navalny stories.)