Former Russian premier 'was poisoned'

Doctors treating former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar, who is gravely ill, believe he was poisoned, an aide said today.

“Doctors don’t see a natural reason for the poisoning and they have not been able to detect any natural substance known to them” in Gaidar’s body, spokesman Valery Natarov said. “So obviously we’re talking about poisoning (and) it was not natural poisoning.”