Alexei Navalny: Russian doctors agree to let Putin critic go to Germany
Russian doctors treating Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who fell into a coma after being taken ill on a plane, have changed their minds and agreed to let him be flown to Germany.
The doctors, in the Siberian city of Omsk, had earlier insisted he was too ill to be moved.
His supporters suspect he drank poisoned tea, and accuse authorities of trying to cover up a crime.
A medically equipped plane is waiting to take him to Germany for treatment.
Mr Navalny's team said earlier it was "deadly" for him to remain in the hospital and his wife, Yulia, appealed in a letter to the Kremlin to give permission for him to flown abroad.
Eventually, German medics were allowed to see him and said they were "able and willing" to fly him to Berlin. Mr Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said it was a pity doctors had taken so long to approve his flight as the plane and the right documents had been ready since Friday morning.
Reports say he could leave within hours, but Mr Navalny's spokeswoman said his departure would not happen for at least seven hours - which would be early on Saturday morning in the Siberian city.
What the doctors said
Mr Navalny remains in a coma and hospital head doctor Alexander Murakhovsky warned late on Friday they did not recommend flying,"but his wife insists on her husband being transferred to a German clinic".
"The patient's condition is stable," deputy chief doctor Anatoly Kalinichenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
"As we're in possession of a request from relatives to permit him to be transported somewhere, we have now taken the decision that we do not object to his transfer to another in-patient facility."
Doctors said earlier that no poison had been found in his body, suggesting his condition might be the result of a "metabolic disorder" caused by low blood sugar.
Health officials then indicated that traces of an industrial chemical had been found on his skin and hair. The local interior ministry told the Rapsi legal news agency that the chemical was usually included in polymers to improve their elasticity, but its concentration was impossible to establish.
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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53865811
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