A State Department spokesman had no comment when asked whether the U.S. had plans to help a Russian opposition leader with U.S. ties who has mysteriously fallen ill.
Vladimir Kara-Murza was rushed to the hospital Tuesday after he collapsed and lost consciousness. His condition has since deteriorated.
Kara-Murza is the federal coordinator of Open Russia, an opposition group that promotes the "rule of law with honest elections" in a country known for its authoritarian and arbitrary tendencies.
On Thursday, Kara-Murza’s wife, who lives in the United States with the couple’s three children, called for her husband to be evacuated from Russia for "full toxicology testing and treatment."
When asked about the activist’s plight, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said that Kura-Murza "is in our thoughts and we expect he will receive the best medical care possible."
"I’m sure that is great comfort," the AP’s Matt Lee responded, "but can you find out if you are trying to help him or his family get him out of the country for medical care?"
"Has anybody from the embassy reached out to his family in any way?" another reporter asked.
Rathke said he did not know.
It is unlikely that Kara-Murza will receive satisfactory medical care in Russia, especially if, as his wife suspects, he has been poisoned by the Russian government because of his political activities.
Medical care in Russia is poor by Western standards, and experts have written that the Russian health care system is in a state of "crisis."
Open Society has been the subject of government intimidation in the past. The group’s founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was imprisoned for 10 years after "two Kafka-esque trials."
In addition to Russia’s many political prisoners, at least eight Russian dissidents have died under mysterious circumstances in the last decade. In one high-profile case, Alexander Litvinenko, a vocal critic of then-President Vladimir Putin, died after being poisoned by a radioactive substance.