The acutely ill Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is being flown from Siberia to Germany for treatment, the BBC reports.
He fell into a coma after drinking what his supporters suspect was poisoned tea.
Doctors treating him in Omsk had insisted on Friday that he was too ill to be moved.
But they later said his condition was stable enough for the flight. His wife Yulia is travelling with him.
A medical evacuation flight, paid for by the German NGO Cinema for Peace, is taking Mr Navalny to Berlin, where he will be treated at the Charité hospital.
“Alexei’s plane has taken off for Berlin,” his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh tweeted on Saturday morning. “Massive thanks to everyone for their support. The struggle for Alexei’s life and health is just beginning,”
Ms Yarmysh earlier said it was a pity doctors had taken so long to approve his flight as the plane and the right documents had been ready since Friday morning.
Mr Navalny fell ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on Thursday, and his plane made an emergency landing in Omsk.
