Russia to let Kremlin critic Navalny fly to Berlin for treatment following suspected poisoning

Doctors at the Siberian hospital where Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny lies in a coma after suspected poisoning have allowed his family to transport him to a top German medical facility, the hospital's deputy chief doctor said Friday.

Navalny, a 44-year-old politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics, was admitted to an intensive care unit in the Siberian city of Omsk on Thursday. His supporters believe he was poisoned and that the Kremlin is behind it.

A plane with German specialists and equipment necessary to transfer Navalny for treatment in Berlin landed at Omsk airport on Friday morning, but doctors at the Siberian hospital earlier said his condition was too unstable to transport him.

But after German doctors examined Navalny and declared him fit to fly in the special medical plane, the Russian doctor told reporters he would be granted permission.

The flight from Omsk is scheduled for Saturday morning, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing airport officials.

Earlier Friday, allies of Navalny accused authorities of thwarting his medical evacuation to Germany, saying the decision had placed his life in mortal danger because the Siberian hospital treating him was under-equipped.

Russian doctors treating him in Omsk said his condition had improved a little overnight but that his life was still in danger.

Anatoly Kalinichenko, the deputy head doctor at the hospital looking after him, said tests had so far found no traces of poison.

Kalinichenko said the hospital had a full diagnosis but could not disclose it yet. He said doctors did not believe Navalny had been poisoned.

Travel ban 'an attempt on his life'

Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and spokesperson Kira Yarmysh, who want to fly Navalny to Germany for medical treatment, disputed this and criticized the hospital after it said that moving him would put his life at risk because he was still in a coma and his condition unstable.

"The ban on transporting Navalny is an attempt on his life being carried out right now by doctors and the deceitful authorities that have authorized it," Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.

She said doctors had previously consented to his being moved, but then had withheld that consent at the last minute.

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"This decision, of course, was not made by them, but by the Kremlin," said Yarmysh.

Yarmysh appealed to Putin in a letter on Friday to allow Navalny to be transported from a hospital in Siberia to Germany to receive medical assistance.

The letter, which was published on social media, was sent to the Kremlin directly, a Navalny ally said.

The Russian government said Thursday that medical authorities would promptly consider any request to move him to a European clinic and were being open about his medical condition.

'He is able to fly'

The comments came as an air ambulance sent by the Berlin-based Cinema for Peace Foundation, a non-profit organization, landed in Omsk with the intention of flying him to Germany if possible.

Film producer Jaka Bizilj, who represents the charity organizing the flight, told The Associated Press that he had been in touch with the German medical team that examined him, a doctor and two medical assistants who specialize in such transports, and that they had determined it would be safe to bring Navalny to Berlin.

"I understand he's still unconscious, but they're used to such special assignments, and they say very clearly he can fly and they want to fly him," said Bizilj of the German organization, Cinema For Peace.

"I've spoken with the doctors, and they are just now writing the medical report, which we're going to get very soon, but it's absolutely without a question that he is able to fly."

Earlier, Alexander Murakhovsky, the hospital's head doctor, told reporters that many legal questions would need to be resolved before Navalny could be handed over to European doctors.

He said top doctors had been flown in from Moscow to treat Navalny who were no worse than their European counterparts. He said test results would be available within two days.

Navalny's team cited a police officer as saying a highly dangerous substance had been identified in his body that posed a risk to everyone around him and that they should wear protective suits. Reuters could not independently confirm that information.

Navalny's team said it believed authorities wanted to stall for time so that any trace of what poisoned him would disappear.

French junior European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Friday he shared concerns and fears about Navalny's fate and reiterated that France was ready to help him if necessary.