Russian television's coverage of Alexei Navalny's poisoning

AP. The poisoning of Putin’s critic was relegated to the 11th slot on the news, but his name was used in a rare acknowledgement that he actually exists. The poisoning of Alexei Navalny, President Putin’s most prominent domestic critic, has forced the Russian state media’s flagship television channel to briefly drop its usual taboo on mentioning the opposition activist by name. Channel One, Russia’s main television station, devoted three minutes to the news during its 22-minute evening bulletin, hours after Angela Merkel, revealed that the military-grade nerve agent novichok had been used against Mr Navalny, 44, during a trip to Siberia last month.