Comatose Russian activist Navalny departs for Berlin for treatment
(dpa)
Moscow (dpa) - Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who spent two days in a near-fatal, comatose condition in a Siberian hospital following a possible poisoning, has departed for Berlin for treatment, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh confirmed on Twitter Saturday.
German medical personnel examined Navalny in Omsk and he left the hospital early Saturday morning after Russian health officials said on Friday they had granted permission for him to go abroad.
Navalny left Omsk on a Medevac plane bound for Berlin where he is to be treated at the Charite hospital. He was taken to Omsk airport earlier in an ambulance accompanied by police.
Authorities in Omsk said the departure for Germany had been delayed by several hours, allegedly because the pilots had to observe legal rest periods.
Russian officials had previously refused to evacuate Navalny because his condition was unstable.
Yarmysh claimed that Russian authorities had been holding Navalny to cover up a crime - that he had been poisoned. However the Omsk hospital had rejected allegations that he could be poisoned, saying tests did not reveal evidence of it.
Navalny, 44, has arguably been the fiercest domestic opponent of Putin over the past decade.
Yarmysh has said that Navalny appeared to have been given poison in tea that he had drunk at an airport cafe before boarding an airliner in the Siberian city of Tomsk.
Navalny fell ill while on the flight from Tomsk back home to Moscow. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk and Navalny was brought by ambulance to the hospital there.
Navalny left Omsk on a Medevac plane bound for Berlin where he is to be treated at the Charite hospital. He was taken to Omsk airport earlier in an ambulance accompanied by police.
Authorities in Omsk said the departure for Germany had been delayed by several hours, allegedly because the pilots had to observe legal rest periods.
Russian officials had previously refused to evacuate Navalny because his condition was unstable.
Yarmysh claimed that Russian authorities had been holding Navalny to cover up a crime - that he had been poisoned. However the Omsk hospital had rejected allegations that he could be poisoned, saying tests did not reveal evidence of it.
Navalny, 44, has arguably been the fiercest domestic opponent of Putin over the past decade.
Yarmysh has said that Navalny appeared to have been given poison in tea that he had drunk at an airport cafe before boarding an airliner in the Siberian city of Tomsk.
Navalny fell ill while on the flight from Tomsk back home to Moscow. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk and Navalny was brought by ambulance to the hospital there.
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