New pictures have emerged showing the first Kremlin official to quit over Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine lying in hospital in Sardinia, partially paralysed and unable to close his eyes.
While Anatoly Chubais' condition was today formally diagnosed as having Guillain-Barré syndrome - a rare neurological disorder - there are reports that Italian secret services continue to investigate the case over possible foul play.
Chubais, 67, who was once the Kremlin chief of staff, deputy prime minister and Putin's climate envoy, was also visited by an Italian prosecutor today.
This follows multiple cases where enemies of Putin have suffered poisoning or died in suspicious circumstances with longstanding fears in Western intelligence that Russian laboratories have sought to create toxins that mimic real diseases.
Chubais (pictured) - the first Kremlin official to quit over Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine lying in hospital in Sardinia - partially paralysed and unable to close his eyes. Chubais' condition was today formally diagnosed as having Guillain-Barré syndrome, but some have suggested he was poisoned
The politician, who in the 1990s led the programme to privatise Soviet industry, has suffered partial facial paralysis and cannot walk or close his eyes.
Chubais is the most senior Russian official to quit in protest over Putin's brutal war in Ukraine after he resigned from his post as the president's envoy to international organisations in March and fled his home country.
He had served Russian for many years, and had been a top Kremlin official even before Putin was promoted to his first job in the federal government.
'His condition has stabilised, but Anatoly [Chubais] is still in intensive care, his legs and arms do not work well, his eyes cannot be closed, and he has partial facial paralysis,' said journalist and ex-presidential election candidate Ksenia Sobchak, who first broke the story of his illness.
She wrote earlier that specialists in hazmat suits had checked the location where he was taken ill, evidently amidst fears of poisoning.
Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare and serious condition which can be life threatening, affects the nerves in the feet, hands and limbs.
It predominantly causes numbness, weakness and pain.