MOSCOW (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he has been issued a Russian passport after being denied the travel document for five years.

Navalny says this will allow him to travel abroad to get specialized treatment for his right eye, which suffered a severe chemical burn when an attacker doused him with green antiseptic a week ago.

Navalny wrote in his blog that he got a call Thursday from the federal migration service telling him to pick up his passport.

He said the doctors treating him in Russia recommended he seek treatment abroad because he may need a cornea transplant.

Navalny is serving a five-year suspended sentence in a dubious embezzlement case that appears to reflect the Kremlin's desire to disqualify him from running for office.