Doctors say 'poisoned' Putin critic can't be moved to Germany

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Russian doctors have said they will not allow leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny to be transferred from a hospital in Siberia to one in Germany following his suspected poisoning.

The head doctor treating Mr Navalny said he was not well enough to be moved. But a spokeswoman called the decision "a direct threat to his life".

Activists in Germany have sent a plane to bring him to Berlin for treatment.

Mr Navalny is a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He fell ill during a flight on Thursday. His team suspects something was put in his tea at an airport cafe.

The head doctor at the Siberian hospital, Alexander Murakhovsky, told reporters on Friday that Mr Navalny's condition had improved a little, but that he was still unstable. He said legal questions would need to be resolved before Mr Navalny could be moved.

But Mr Navalny's team said it was "deadly" for him to remain in the Siberian hospital.

"The ban on the transportation of Navalny is an attempt on his life, which is being made right now by doctors and the deceitful authorities who sanctioned it," Mr Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.