Pussy Riot's Pyotr Verzilov 'poisoned': Activist who invaded World Cup final pitch 'losing sight' in hospital

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A member of Pussy Riot is in a critical condition in hospital 'after losing his sight and ability to move' amid fears he has been poisoned.

According to report on Russian website Medusa, Peter (Pyotr) Verzilov was allegedly taken to hospital on Tuesday after he "began to lose his sight, speech and the ability to move around".

In July, Peter, along with Veronika Nikulshina, Olga Kuracheva and Olga Pakhtusova ran onto the field during the final of the World Cup in Moscow wearing police uniforms.

They were arrested following the stunt which hit headlines across the globe.

Peter was reportedly taken to the Bakhrushin City Clinical Hospital in Sokolniki and is said to be in 'a critical condition'.

His family claim Peter's mother was not allowed to see him when she arrived and was given no updates on his condition.

Veronika Nikulshina, a member of the Russian activist group, Peter started to feel unwell when he arrived home from a court appearance.

He went to bed at 6pm to rest and at 8pm when Veronika arrived home, Peter “woke up and said he was starting to lose his sight.”

“Between eight and ten, his condition got exponentially worse. First it was his vision, then his ability to speak, and then his ability to walk,” she said.

“When the paramedics arrived, he answered all their questions, saying, ‘No, I didn’t eat anything. No, I didn’t take anything.’

"He was getting worse even faster, and then he started convulsing. On the way [to the hospital], in the ambulance, he was already babbling. [...]

"He fell into such a half-asleep, half-unconscious state that he stopped responding to me and didn’t even recognize me anymore."

Veronika said that initial tests "didn't turn up anything bad" but at 1am, Peter was reportedly taken to the toxicology department.

Veronika claims doctors would not tell her if Peter had been poisoned.

She said the doctor only told her that he had begun to 'react to his name'.

It comes amid reports that Veronika and an unidentified friend were detained after being stopped by police while driving on Monday.

“Moscow police is now claiming that Nika and her friend were refusing to agree to a ‘terrorist check’ of their car – and they had to be arrested. Crazy accusations!” Pussy Riot tweeted.

“The girls have been arrested in their car for absolutely NOTHING. Moscow police is still mad after the World Cup action”, the tweet claimed.

The Guardian reports that Peter was also arrested outside his home.

Pussy Riot are vocal critics of Vladimir Putin and part of their World Cup stunt was to appeal for the end of various kinds of political imprisonment.

The news comes as Russia faces international outrage over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

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Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were accused of carrying out the attack using Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury earlier this year.

Vladimir Putin said the suspects are known to Russian authorities and they have been found, but he rejected Britain's claims that the pair work for the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service.

The UK claims the men are spies who were operating under aliases.

State television channel Rossiya-24 said it had spoken to Petrov and that he said he may break his silence "next week".