Navalny goes on hunger strike in protest at prison treatment

Russian opposition leader says he has been denied medical care and subjected to sleep deprivation

Alexei Navalny has gone on hunger strike after saying he was denied urgent medical treatment in prison.

The Russian opposition leader has complained of a sharp deterioration" in his health since his transfer to a prison colony in the Vladimir region to serve a two-and-a-half year sentence on embezzlement charges. The colony, which is 60 miles from Moscow, is notoriously strict and said to excel at isolating inmates from the outside world.