Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza leaves Russia after second alleged poisoning

A prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin has emerged from a coma after a second alleged poisoning attempt and will seek treatment abroad, his lawyer said.

Vladimir Kara-Murza is an activist for the Open Russia Foundation, which campaigns for democractic reform in Russia.

On Sunday (19 February), his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said that Kara-Murza had emerged from a medically-induced coma, and had left Russia.

Prokhorov said Kara-Murza was leaving the country "to go through rehabilitation treatment after his second acute poisoning".

He added: "The diagnosis in his hospital discharge report is still the same: 'toxic influence of an unknown substance'."

Prokhorov did not disclose where Kara-Murza nad his wife were travelling to.

On 2 February, Kara-Murza became seriously ill and was hospitalised with organ failure, with tests showing he had ingested a poisonous substance.

It came less than two years after Kara-Murza suffered multiple organ failure and was hospitalised following another alleged poisoning.

The May, 2015, incident followed the assassination of Kara-Murza's friend and fellow opposition activist Boris Nemtsov weeks earlier.