MOSCOW -- A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot said he is recovering after spending two weeks in intensive care from a suspected poisoning. Pyotr Verzilov tweeted Tuesday that he only fully regained consciousness three days ago after being in a "black hole" for the previous 12 days.

He added he was "spending days in the great company of wonderful poisons."

Verzilov, who also has Canadian citizenship, has been at Berlin's Charite hospital since arriving from Moscow, where he was previously treated. Dr. Kai-Uwe Eckardt, who heads the hospital's intensive care department, said last week he expected Verzilov to make a full recovery and hopefully suffer no permanent damage.

In a statement issued last week, Pussy Riot member Nadia Tolokonnikova said Verzilov was "dizzy and confused."

"He remembers his friends and relatives, but he does not understand that he's in Germany, that he's in a hospital and there are doctors around him, not prison wardens. 'Are you the director of the prison?', Peter asked yesterday to the head of the hospital," according to Tolokonnikova.

German doctors treating Verzilov said last week that reports he was poisoned are "highly plausible," but stressed they can't say how this might have occurred or who was responsible.

Tolokonnikova told The Associated Press that Verzilov could have been poisoned because of his investigation into the killing of Russian journalists in the Central African Republic. The journalists were killed in an ambush in July while investigating a Russian military contractor and Russia's interests in the African country's mining industry.

Verzilov was among four Pussy Riot protesters who barged onto the field during the soccer World Cup final in Moscow in July. They ran onto the pitch at Luzhniki Stadium dressed as police officers during the second half of the match between France and Croatia. They used the protest to call for the release of political prisoners in Russia and for more open political competition.

The members of the punk protest collective were handed 15 day jail sentences for their stunt. A Russian court sentenced them after finding them guilty of violating the law on behavior of sports events spectators. They were also banned from attending sports events for three years.</s>A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot said Tuesday he’s recovering after two weeks in intensive care for a suspected poisoning.</s>A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot says he's recovering after spending two weeks in intensive care with a suspected poisoning.

Pyotr Verzilov has been at Berlin's Charite hospital since arriving from Moscow, where he had been previously treated. Verzilov tweeted Tuesday that he only fully regained consciousness three days ago after being in a "black hole" for the previous 12 days. He added he was "spending days in the great company of wonderful poisons."

German doctors treating Verzilov said last week that reports he was poisoned are "highly plausible," but stressed they can't say how this might have occurred or who was responsible.

Verzilov and three other Pussy Riot members spent 15 days in jail in Russia for running onto field during the World Cup final to protest Russian police actions.</s>A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot said Tuesday he’s recovering after two weeks in intensive care for a suspected poisoning while a fellow activist suggested he could have been targeted for looking into the killings of Russian journalists in Africa.

Pyotr Verzilov has been at Berlin’s Charite hospital since arriving from Moscow, where he had been previously treated. Verzilov tweeted that he only fully regained consciousness three days ago after being in a “black hole” for the previous 12 days. He added that he was “spending days in the great company of wonderful poisons.”

German doctors treating Verzilov say reports he was poisoned are “highly plausible,” but stressed they can’t say how this might have occurred or who was responsible.

READ MORE: Freeland vows Canada ‘will act appropriately’ in response to poisoning of Canadian Pussy Riot member

Verzilov and three other Pussy Riot members spent 15 days in jail in Russia for running onto field during the World Cup final to protest Russian police brutality.

His friend and fellow Pussy Riot activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova told The Associated Press after returning from Berlin that German doctors were unable to determine what sickened Verzilov because any possible toxin had been washed out of his body during his treatment at a Moscow hospital.

Tolokonnikova said that doctors at a Moscow clinic told her they couldn’t find traces of any known medicine or poison in his blood.

She said she believes Verzilov could have been poisoned because of his political activism, the World Cup stunt or his investigation into the killing of three Russian journalists in Central African Republic in July.

Exiled Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who financed the Russian journalists’ work, said they were looking into a private Russian security firm known as Wagner that operates in CAR.

The Wagner company is linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a St. Petersburg entrepreneur dubbed “Putin’s chef” because his restaurants hosted President Vladimir Putin’s dinners with foreign dignitaries.

WATCH: German doctors say poisoning is ‘highly plausible’ for Russian-Canadian Pussy Riot member

U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller has indicted Prigozhin and members of a “troll farm” he allegedly funded for waging “information warfare” against the United States through social media platforms and internet-based media.

Tolokonnikova said journalists who had investigated Prigozhin’s business interests had faced threats in the past.

She said Verzilov had planned to join the three journalists before they were killed but was unable to make the trip because he was in jail for the World Cup stunt.

Verzilov, who holds dual Russian-Canadian citizenship, had launched his own inquiry into the journalists’ killings and received a preliminary report from his collaborator a day before he fell ill, Tolokonnikova said.

She wouldn’t say exactly what Verzilov uncovered, but said he “found some clues, which, if investigated further, could lead to some results.” According to Tolokonnikova, a person in the Central African Republic who was involved in the investigation has refused to continue, fearing for his safety.

Tolokonnikova also said that Hunter Heaney, an activist who worked with Verzilov, noticed that he was being shadowed by unidentified people while they were in Berlin and called German police, who have provided protection.

Heaney confirmed that the German police had tightened security around Verzilov and put himself under protection. “It seems hard to believe it could have been anything but poisoning,” he said of Verzilov’s condition.

Berlin police said they were in contact with Verzilov and people close to him and are assessing the situation. They would not comment on any security measures.

In Moscow, lawyer Dmitry Dinze has formally asked the Investigative Committee, Russia’s top investigative agency, to open an inquiry into Verzilov’s suspected poisoning.</s>MOSCOW — A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot said Tuesday he’s recovering after spending two weeks in intensive care after a suspected poisoning.

Pyotr Verzilov has been at Berlin’s Charite hospital since arriving from Moscow, where he had been previously treated. Verzilov tweeted that he only fully regained consciousness three days ago after being in a “black hole” for the previous 12 days. He added he was “spending days in the great company of wonderful poisons.”

German doctors treating Verzilov said last week that reports he was poisoned are “highly plausible,” but stressed they can’t say how this might have occurred or who was responsible.

Verzilov and three other Pussy Riot members spent 15 days in jail in Russia for running onto field during the World Cup final to protest Russian police brutality.

A fellow member of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, told The Associated Press that Verzilov could have been poisoned because of his investigation into the killing of Russian journalists in the Central African Republic. The journalists were killed in an ambush in July while investigating a Russian military contractor and Russia’s interests in the African country’s mining industry.

She said a fellow activist felt they were being shadowed by unidentified people while they were in Berlin and called the police, who provided protection.

Berlin police said they are in contact with Verzilov and people close to him and are assessing the situation. They would not comment on any measures they may be taking.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>MOSCOW (AP) - A member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot says he's recovering after spending two weeks in intensive care with a suspected poisoning.

Pyotr Verzilov has been at Berlin's Charite hospital since arriving from Moscow, where he had been previously treated. Verzilov tweeted Tuesday that he only fully regained consciousness three days ago after being in a "black hole" for the previous 12 days. He added he was "spending days in the great company of wonderful poisons."

German doctors treating Verzilov said last week that reports he was poisoned are "highly plausible," but stressed they can't say how this might have occurred or who was responsible.

Verzilov and three other Pussy Riot members spent 15 days in jail in Russia for running onto field during the World Cup final to protest Russian police actions.

FILE - In this Sunday, July 15, 2018 file photo, stewards pull a woman off the pitch after she stormed onto the field and interrupted the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. The chief organizer of Russia's World Cup says police stopped 170 people from invading the pitch during games before four members of the Pussy Riot protest group eventually stormed the final dressed as police officers. Organizing committee CEO Alexei Sorokin has downplayed security problems despite the pitch invasion that happened in the final between France and Croatia on July 15. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)</s>A member of the Russian anti-Putin feminist protest group Pussy Riot spoke out Tuesday for the first time since he regained consciousness after two weeks in intensive care due to a suspected poisoning.

Pyotr Verzilov tweeted Tuesday he fully regained consciousness three days ago after being in a “black hole” for the previous 12 days. He added he was “spending days in great company of wonderful poisons.”

Verzilov fell ill Sept. 11 after attending a friend’s court hearing in Moscow. He was admitted to a Russian hospital after feeling disoriented.

An examination showed widened pupils and doctors treated him for poisoning, a doctor at Berlin’s Charite hospital said last week.

Dr. Kai-Uwe Eckardt said told reporters it was “highly plausible” that Verizolv had been poisoned. He said the activist’s condition was not life-threatening and his symptoms indicated he suffered from an anticholinergic syndrome that can result from a disruption of the nervous system that regulates inner organs.

Doctors have theorized the poisoning could have come from a variety of substances, including high doses of some pharmaceuticals and plants that contain particular toxins.

The diagnosis would make Verzilov the latest person in a string of Russian government foes to mysteriously fall ill.

Russia is accused of poisoning an ex-spy and his daughter in the British town of Salisbury in March. The Kremlin also has a history of being implicated in the assassinations of other dissidents, some of which involved poisoning.

Verzilov and three other Pussy Riot members spent 15 days in jail in Russia for running onto the field during the World Cup final to protest Russian police actions.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and the Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>By The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — A member of Russian protest group Pussy Riot is being treated in Berlin after falling severely ill, with fellow activists saying he was poisoned.

Pyotr Verzilov was flown to the German capital late Saturday.

Verzilov was first hospitalized in Moscow on Tuesday and had remained in intensive care, Pussy Riot members said this week.

Maria Alekhina, a member of the group, told The Associated Press that he regained consciousness Friday.

Verzilov, his partner Veronika Nikulshina and two other Pussy Riot members served 15-day jail sentences for running onto field in Moscow where soccer’s World Cup final was being played in July. Their protest of what they described as the excessive powers of Russia’s police briefly disrupted the match.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>BERLIN—A German hospital on Wednesday discharged a member of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot after he made significant progress in his recovery from a suspected poisoning. The Charite hospital said Pyotr Verzilov is no longer showing the symptoms of disorientation that he had when he arrived in mid-September after his initial treatment in Moscow. It said there’s still an issue with the reaction of his pupils, but doctors are confident that will disappear.

Verzilov and other members of Pussy Riot served 15-day jail sentences for disrupting the World Cup final in Moscow in July to protest Russian police brutality. German doctors treating Verzilov have said reports that he was poisoned are “highly plausible,” but stressed they can’t say how this might have occurred or who was responsible. Verzilov fell ill on Sept. 11 after attending a friend’s court hearing in the Russian capital, and was admitted to a Moscow hospital that evening with symptoms that included disorientation and widened pupils. Russian doctors suspected possible poisoning and treated him accordingly, emptying his stomach and performing a dialysis, German doctors say.

The Charite’s Dr. Kai-Uwe Eckardt said the diagnosis of an anticholinergic syndrome hasn’t changed, and “an intake or absorption of an exogenous substance as the cause of this syndrome still appears to be the most plausible explanation for his acute illness on Sept. 11.” Tests during his stay at the hospital have produced no indications of another cause, Eckardt added. Charite’s chairman, Dr. Karl Max Einhaeupl, added that tests so far haven’t produced any clear indication of a specific substance that might have caused his illness. He said the Berlin hospital remains in contact with its Moscow counterparts to get more information on Verzilov’s initial treatment.</s>If you want to visit the poisoned Russian Pussy Riot activist in the Berlin Charité hospital, you have to pass three police officers.

They secure Pyotr Verzilov’s hospital room and refuse entry for anyone who is not signed in. Pyotr, however, is completely relaxed when we meet him on Wednesday morning, even though he has only been released from intensive care on Monday. “I am not afraid,” he says with a big smile.

“You in the West don’t understand this: as activists, we have been living with a certain risk for years, it’s nothing special.” The Berlin doctors ask visitors to wear surgical masks. However, the activist has been on the road to recovery for a while. “I’m fine again, and I hope that I’ll be released as soon as possible. And I want to go back to Russia.” His girlfriend Veronika Nikulshina is worried about him wanting to go back to the country where he was presumably poisoned.

“I assume that the people who poisoned him once will try it again. So I don’t want him to go back. But it’s impossible to stop Pyotr.” On 11 September, the activist came home following a court hearing and started to feel unwell. Verzilov:

“I am firmly convinced that the Russian secret service is behind the poisoning. Maybe it was the Russian intelligence agency GRU. The poisoning was carried out so professionally that there can be no other conclusion. Maybe they tried a new poison cocktail on me, since my poisoning proceeded differently than in other cases. It didn’t take several days for me to notice something, but was immediately acute. I have no memory of the following days.”

He lost his vision, orientation, and speech. If it hadn’t been for girlfriend Veronika, Pyotr would probably no longer be alive. She says: “First I didn’t know what was happening, but his heart was beating so fast and he was so confused that I called an emergency doctor in the middle of the night. Then it soon became clear that he had been poisoned, and we organized the transport form Moscow to Berlin. If I hadn’t been there that night, he would probably no longer be alive.”

In the following days, Verzilov fought for his life and only slowly regained consciousness. “I can hardly remember what happened to me. When I woke up, I thought that the head of the clinic in Berlin was a prison director, and I saw cats everywhere.”

Pyotr Verzilov has become known for invading the pitch during the World Cup final, making the Moscow police look foolish. “There are two potential reason why the Russian secret service wanted to poison me. There’s the action during the World Cup final that had extremely annoyed them, and there’s my connection to the three Russian journalists who were murdered in Africa.”

Orkhan Dzhemal was a well-known war reporter, Aleksandr Rastorguev was a filmmaker, and Kirill Radchenko was a cameraman. They were murdered in July while conducting research on the Russian mercenary group, “Wagner”, in the Central African Republic.

The reason might have been that they were making a documentary on “Russian mercenaries” who were fighting there and had previously been active in Ukraine as mercenaries with ties to the Kremlin.

Pyotr Verzilov was close friends with filmmaker Rastorguev, in particular, and even wanted to fly to the Central African Republic with the journalists, but was then imprisoned following his storming the pitch during the World Cup final.

Verzilov: “I wanted to investigate what happened to the three journalists – and still do. This could be the reason why the secret service wanted to poison me. As a background, I think this is more likely than the World Cup action.” Verzilov allegedly received a report containing initial findings from Central Africa on 10 September – one day before the poisoning. Verzilov doesn’t want to mention any details yet. “We cannot make a public statement yet, but there’s interesting news”. One thing is for sure: Verzilov wants to continue investigating his friends’ deaths. He will remain in Berlin for the next few days and will think about how to proceed. His father lives in Canada, but Verzilov definitely wants to go back to Moscow at some point. He is supported by “Cinema for Peace” founder, Jaka Bizilj, who visited him at the Charité every day. He had also organized the flight from Moscow to Berlin. Bizilj:

“We are happy that we were able to help so quickly and that Pyotr is feeling much better now. We also hope that this case will be clarified soon”.
Pussy Riot activist Pyotr Verzilov states on Twitter that he is recovering after spending two weeks at Charité in the intensive care unit from a suspected poisoning.