"A medical commission ... has made a decision to transfer A. Navalny to the inpatient department of the regional hospital for prisoners, located on the territory of the 3rd correctional facility in the Vladimir Region, which specialises in the dynamic examination of such patients", the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement.
According to the detention facility, Navalny's health is "satisfactory", and he is being examined by a general practitioner on a daily basis. Vitamin therapy was prescribed to the patient.
Navalny is serving his term in prison over probation breaches to his suspended sentence in the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case. He has been complaining about severe back and leg pains and demanded a doctor of his own choice but was rejected. At the same time, he is refusing the treatment offered by the prison authorities.
He went on a hunger strike at the end of March. His lawyer said that her client is suffering from two spinal hernias.
The prison medics, however, assessed his condition as stable and satisfactory. The 44-year-old is receiving all the medical help he needs, they added.
On 20 August, Alexei Navalny collapsed on a domestic flight in Russia. After being treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, he was transferred to the Berlin-based Charite hospital for further treatment. The German government said that doctors found traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group in his system. Moscow responded by pointing out the lack of evidence in Berlin's claims and noting that Russian doctors had found no toxic substances in Navalny.
