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About three weeks after his admission to the Berlin Charité, the poisoned Russian opposition politician Alexej Navalny is still on the mend. Since then, the 44-year-old has been “completely weaned off mechanical ventilation,” the university clinic said. He is “increasingly mobilized” and may “temporarily leave the sickbed.”
Navalny is considered one of the sharpest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been treated at the Charité since August 22, after he collapsed two days earlier during a flight in Russia. According to the federal government, Navalny was “undoubtedly” poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the so-called Novichok group.
The poison was developed by Soviet scientists in the 1970s. Moscow rejects any blame for the health of the prominent opposition leader. Navalny’s poisoning caused serious diplomatic tensions between Berlin and Moscow.
Meanwhile, two other special laboratories in France and Sweden have identified a neurotoxin warfare agent from the Novitschok group as the cause of the Navalny poisoning. The federal government announced this on Monday. He also said that Germany had turned against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Therefore, their experts have also taken samples from Navalny, which must now be examined by reference laboratories.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said of the new findings: “We are renewing the request that Russia declare itself to the facts.” The German government is “in close contact with its European partners to take further steps.”
Navalny collapsed on a flight in Russia on August 20 and was transferred for the first time to a clinic in Siberia. Later, at the insistence of his family, he was transferred to the Charité. According to the hospital, information about his health is now published according to Navalny and his wife.
