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Reuters
Mr. Navalny was from Tomsk to Moscow and was transferred to Omsk after he became ill
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 fly him to Germany.
The doctors, in the Siberian city of Omsk, had previously insisted he was too sick to relocate.
His supporters think he was poisoned, and accuse the authorities of trying to cover up a crime.
A medically equipped plane is waiting to take him to Germany for treatment.
Reports say he was able to leave within hours.
“The patient’s condition is stable,” said Dr. Anatoly Kalinichenko was quoted as saying by the Interagax news agency.
“Because we are in possession of a request from survivors to allow him to be transported somewhere, we have now decided that we will not object to his transfer to another institution for patients.”
Mr Navalny’s team had earlier said it was ‘deadly’ for him to stay in hospital. His spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, said it was unfortunate that doctors took so long to approve his flight because the plane and the correct documents had been ready since Friday morning.
The hospital’s doctors had previously said no poison had been found in his body, although health officials indicated that traces of an industrial chemical had been found on his skin and hair.
In a preliminary diagnosis on Friday, local doctors said his condition could be the result of a “metabolic disorder” caused by low blood sugar.
- Russia’s worthy Putin critic
Leading critic of President Vladimir Putin has consistently exposed official corruption in Russia. He has served multiple prison sentences.
His team suspected that a toxic substance in his tea was put in an airport cafe in the city of Tomsk, when he was getting ready to fly to Moscow.
Foreign leaders including German Angela Merkel and France Emmanuel Macron have expressed their concern for Mr Navalny. In the US, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden described the incident as “unacceptable” and promised that if elected, he would “stand up for autocrats like Putin.”
What is being said about Mr Navalny’s fitness to travel?
The Berlin-based Cinema for Peace Foundation organized an air ambulance to pick up Mr. Navalny and take him back to Berlin, where it said the Charite Hospital was ready to treat him.
It said her doctors had advised Mr Navalny to travel and wanted to fly on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
“They can fly him, we are ready,” it told the BBC. “The conditions and equipment make it possible.”
At a news conference in Berlin, Mr Navalny’s assistant Leonid Volkov initially said that doctors at the hospital had helped facilitate his transfer, but abruptly stopped doing so.
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Reuters
Medical experts from Germany have approved Mr Navalny
“[It was] “as something was disabled – such as medicine mode disabled, cover-up surgery mode – and the doctors refused to cooperate more, refusing to provide any information, even to Alexei’s wife,” he said.
“The doctors who helped do the paperwork to make the transport from Alexei to Charite possible began to say that he is no longer transportable, he is not more stable, and contradicts himself.”
The Cinema for Peace Foundation was founded by activist and filmmaker Jaka Bizilj. In 2018, it ruled out the treatment of Pyotr Verzilov – an activist with the Russian protest group Pussy Riot – who had symptoms of poisoning.
Mrs Navalny’s wife had written to President Putin asking him to move her husband.
The spokesman for Mr. Putin Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the Kremlin would help move Mr Navalny abroad if needed and wished him a “speedy recovery”. On Friday, he said transporting him by air “could be a threat to his health”.
Yulia Navalnaya said she thought the Russian authorities would shut down so that evidence of any chemical substance would be lost.
Timeline: Navalny directed
April 2017: He was taken to hospital after an antiseptic green dye splashed on his face in Moscow. It was the second time he was that year with Zelyonka (“brilliant green” in English). “It looks funny, but it hurts like hell,” he tweeted after the attack.
July 2019: He was sentenced to 30 days in prison after asking for unauthorized protests. He fell ill in prison and doctors said he had suffered an acute allergic reaction, diagnosing him with “contact dermatitis”. His own doctor stated that he may have been exposed to “some toxic agent” and Mr Navalny said he thought he might have been poisoned.
December 2019: Russian security forces raided the offices of its Anti-Corruption Foundation, seizing laptops and other equipment. CCTV footage showed officials using power tools to get through the door. Earlier that year, his organization was declared a ‘foreign agent’.
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How did he end up in the hospital?
Mr. Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow and his plane made an emergency landing in Omsk.
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EPA
A man in Moscow looks at social media footage of Mr Navalny being stretched to an ambulance
Video footage on social media showed Mr Navalny being taken on a stretcher to an ambulance at the airport.
Another disturbing video appeared showing a stricken Mr Navalny on the run. Passenger Pavel Lebedev said he heard the activist “writing in pain”.
Another photo on social media was meant to show Mr Navalny drinking from a bag in a Tomsk airport cafe.
