Moscow, March 21 (IANS): Russian track-and-field athlete Nadezhda Kotlyarova, a silver medallist of the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships in 4x400 metres relay race, has tested positive for the banned drug Meldonium, her coach Sergei Vorobyov has said.

The test was taken during the Russian indoors championships in February. As soon as the results of the test were announced, Kotlyarova had to leave the team currently on a training session in Adler, reports Tass ness agency.

"This medicine was prescribed to Nadezhda by doctors. She had been taking it for at least six months before stopping to use it," Vorobyov said on Sunday.

"No one has ever told us how long it takes to clear the organism from this medicine. As a matter of fact, the situation looks strange. We are waiting how the situation develops."

Kotlyarova was third in the 400 metres race at the Russian indoor championships held in Moscow from February 23 to 25.

Russian sports was hit last week by a new case in a chain of doping-related incidents after some of the country’s athletes tested positive for banned substance Meldonium.

Meldonium was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances on September 16, 2015, effective starting January 1, 2016. It was previously on WADA's list of drugs to be monitored.

WADA considers the drug to be a "metabolic modulator", similar to insulin. A December 2015 study in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis argued that Meldonium "demonstrates an increase in endurance performance of athletes, improved rehabilitation after exercise, protection against stress, and enhanced activations of central nervous system (CNS) functions."

According to latest reports, more than a hundred of athletes from across the world have tested positive for Meldonium.