Pussy Riot’s Peter Verzilov was poisoned before falling ill in Russia last week, German doctors have confirmed. The Russian-Canadian activist’s friends and relatives had suspected poisoning after he began to lose his sight, speech, motor skills, and memory last Wednesday, September 12. At a press conference today, doctors from the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin hospital said their medical conclusion was that Verzilov was poisoned in Moscow, according to a statement from Pussy Riot.

In the statement, the collective write that Verzilov is still suffering from amnesia, dizziness, and confusion, but is in good spirits and an improving condition. “If you ask Peter why do you think you were poisoned,” the statement reads, “he most likely will tell you about the recent arrest of Igor Sechin, whether there is mobile connection in Arctic or not, about Marina Abramović and Ulay’s performances, and his postmodernist phantasies. It may be scary, but most of the time Peter still has his unique sense of humor. When he saw me and Nika Nikulshina yesterday, he said, ‘So good to see you without handcuffs.’”

They add, “It’s important to realize that Peter’s life was in danger. He might be dead now if Nika Nikulshina was not around to help him.”

Verzilov, one of the Pussy Riot members who rushed the field at the 2018 World Cup final, was hospitalized in critical condition and taken to a toxicological department last Wednesday. In a statement on Saturday, Pussy Riot had claimed that Russian doctors “refuse to share with us any papers on Peter’s health” and repeated claims he was poisoned by Russian authorities. Verzilov was transferred from Russia to Berlin that day at the suggestion of a German doctor who knows Verzilov’s father. “His life is still in danger in Russia,” Pussy Riot write in the latest statement.