The Berlin police are investigating reports of illness among Russian exiles

BERLIN — German police are investigating reports that at least two Russian exiles fell ill while attending a conference on a Russian opposition figure in Berlin last month.

Berlin police confirmed their investigation in an email to The Associated Press, but did not provide details. The investigation is being conducted by a police unit that deals with politically motivated crimes.

Russian news agency Agentstvo reported that two participants in the April 29-30 conference organized by Russian opposition party Mikhail Khodorkovsky experienced health problems around or after the event.

Natalia Arno, head of the US-based Free Russia Foundation, said in a May 16 Facebook post that she woke up to severe pain and strange symptoms during a trip to two European cities before returning to the US. There is a suspicion that he was poisoned, probably a nerve agent, Arno said in the post.

In another case, Agentstvo reported that a journalist it did not identify had developed symptoms before a meeting organized by Khodorkovsky.

The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag first reported on the investigation by the German police.