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Germany says Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition politician, has been used as a nerve agent. The German government says a toxicology test in a military laboratory found “clear evidence” of the presence of a neoconservative agent in Navalny’s body.
The BBC reports that Navalny’s party has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of poisoning him.
However, the Kremlin has denied the accusations.
Alexei Navalny began to feel ill on his way back to Moscow from Tomsk in Siberia by plane last month. He’s been in a coma since hospitalization.
He was taken to Germany from Siberia for treatment.
The German government has strongly condemned these attacks on Russian opposition politicians. Russia has been urged to explain it urgently.
“It is regrettable that Alexei Navalny was the victim of a chemical nerve agent in Russia,” the statement said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has met with senior ministers to discuss next steps in this regard, the statement said.
The Russian state news agency Tas reported that Navalny had been poisoned with a new nerve agent; no information was available from Germany.
The German government has said it will inform the EU and NATO about the investigation.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, and the Russian ambassador to Germany will also be notified, according to the statement.
The Soviet Union and Russia developed a number of chemical weapons from the 1960s to the 1970s.
While some novice agents are liquid, many of them are believed to be in solid form. This means that they can be crushed and spread.
Newcomers are far more toxic than other chemical weapons. Some versions start to take effect in 30 seconds to 2 minutes very quickly.
In 2016, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were recruited as new nerve agents in the UK.
