Doctors treating Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny say he is out of an induced coma and his condition, since being poisoned, has improved. He is responding to verbal stimuli, they said. Mr Navalny, 44, was flown to Germany after falling ill on a flight in Siberia in August. His team allege he was poisoned on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who denies any involvement. German doctors say the Putin critic was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. On Monday, the Charité hospital in Berlin said in a statement that Mr Navalny was being weaned off mechanical ventilation. "He is responding to verbal stimuli. It remains too early to gauge the potential long-term effects of his severe poisoning," it said. It also said doctors were in close contact with Mr Navalny's wife. Mr Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, tweeted: "News about Alexei. Today he was taken out of induced coma. Gradually he will be switched off from a ventilator. He responds to speech and to being addressed to." Mr Navalny is an anti-corruption campaigner who in recent years has become the most prominent opposition politician in Putin's Russia.