Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Sarah Montague.

Earlier this week, Russian political activist Vladimir Karamurza was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Russia

for charges linked to his criticism of the war in Ukraine.

He was found guilty of treason, spreading false information about the Russian army

and being affiliated with an

undesirable organisation, charges that he denied. I spoke to him in 2017 as he recovered in the

United States from what he said was a poisoning attempt in Moscow. Shortly before, he had been

rushed to hospital in the Russian capital when his organs started shutting down.

He said he knew immediately what was happening because the same thing happened to him two years earlier.

Both times he claimed he was the victim of deliberate poisoning

and that he was targeted because of his opposition to President Putin and the Russian government.

He told me that despite the risks, he intended to return to Russia.

Here's the interview.

Vladimir Karamazza, welcome to Hart Talk.

Hello, thank you for having me.

Can you tell us when you first realized that something was wrong in this recent illness that you suffered? Well, I actually woke up at about

4.30 in the morning because I felt my heart racing and it was racing at an increasing speed and

then suddenly I began sweating profusely and feeling really, really weak. And I felt my blood pressure dropping suddenly,

and all of a sudden it became difficult to breathe.

I was gasping for air.

I was trying to make this movement to breathe the air in,

and it felt as if no air was coming out.

...