Navalny leaves Omsk hospital to board German plane

A Russian dissident who is in a coma after a suspected poisoning on Friday departed an Omsk hospital to be transferred to Germany for medical treatment.

Russian doctors earlier gave Alexei Navalny permission to be transferred, in a sudden reversal that came after more than 24 hours of wrangling over his condition and treatment.

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 that tea he drank was laced with poison - and that the Kremlin is behind both his illness and the delay in transferring him to a top German hospital.

It would not be the first time a prominent, outspoken Russian was targeted  in such a way - or the first time the Kremlin was accused of being behind it.

Russian doctors say there is no evidence of poisoning, and the Kremlin denied the authorities tried to prevent the transfer from happening.