Pussy Riot says member ‘doing better’ after transfer to Berlin hospital for suspected poisoning

Members of the punk protest group Pussy Riot say one of their bandmates is doing “better” after being transferred to a Berlin hospital for treatment of a suspected poisoning.

Pyotr Verzilov was hospitalized in Moscow last week after losing his sight, hearing and mobility in what friends believe was a poisoning.

A human rights group based in Germany paid to transport Verzilov to Berlin’s Charite hospital, where he arrived by medical transport plane on Saturday, according to Reuters.

{mosads}Pussy Riot member Veronika Nikulshina told Reuters that the doctors at the new hospital are “great.”

“He’s better. Everything is okay,” she said, but did not comment further.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, another Pussy Riot member and Verzilov’s wife, told German newspaper Bild that she believes her husband was the victim of an intentional poisoning, according to Reuters.

“I believe that he was poisoned intentionally, and that it was an attempt to intimidate him or kill him,” Tolokonnikova said.

She added that a family friend of Verzilov’s is a doctor in Berlin who intended to treat Verzilov.

Verzilov’s symptoms arose following a court hearing last week stemming from his arrest during a day of protests in Moscow. Another Pussy Riot member was also arrested.

He was one of several Pussy Riot members who rushed the field at the World Cup final in Moscow. The group became an international household name after two of its members were imprisoned in 2012 for protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin.