Doctors have refused to authorise the transfer of opposition politician Alexei Navalny to a German hospital, his spokeswoman has said.
An air ambulance with a team specialised in treating coma patients was dispatched from Germany and due to land in the Siberian city of Omsk this morning.
Mr Navalny remains there in intensive care after drinking tea that his allies believe was laced with poison.
His team says a plane with all the necessary equipment is ready to take Mr Navalny to a German clinic.
But the Siberian hospital has refused to move Mr Navalny, saying it is too risky.
Spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said in a tweet: “The chief doctor said that Navalny is non-transportable. (His) condition is unstable. Family’s decision to transfer him is not enough."
Mr Navalny, 44, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk on Thursday and was taken to hospital after the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk.
It has not been confirmed whether he had been definitely poisoned. Local health officials said they found no indication Mr Navalny had suffered from a heart attack, stroke or the coronavirus.
Mr Navalny’s ally Ivan Zhdanov said on Friday that police found “a very dangerous substance” in Mr Navalny’s system, but officials refuse to disclose what it is.
