Anatoly Karpov, a Russian politician and former chessmaster who was placed in a medically induced coma after a mysterious “fall” last week, may survive to tell the real story of what happened to him in the moments leading up to the grave incident. The Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that although he’s not quite out of the woods yet, there is now a “positive trend” in Karpov’s recovery, according to one of his friends. Karpov’s wife, Natalya Bulanova, also told the outlet that the politician is now conscious, and “feeling better.” Karpov, who has publicly called for the end of the war in Ukraine, was hospitalized in Moscow on Oct. 29 after allegedly falling near Russia’s parliament building. He reportedly suffered traumatic brain injuries, and has been hooked to a ventilator as he recovers in an intensive care unit. Shortly after news of his alleged fall broke, Russian state news agency TASS reported that there “was no attack” on the politician after speaking to one of his assistants, who went so far as to bizarrely claim that Karpov actually suffered “no injuries” from the fall.