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Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, hospitalized in Berlin, was poisoned with a novichok-like substance, the German government reported on Wednesday (2).
Toxicological testing of Navalny’s blood samples was carried out in a German military laboratory. They show, without the possibility of error, that there was poisoning, according to Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the German government.
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Who is Alexei Navalny?
“The federal government will notify the results of the investigation to its partners in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and discuss a response together,” Seibert said.
Novichok means “newbie” in Russian. It is a group of neurotoxic substances developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
Some of the poisons in these groups, such as A-230, are considered more toxic than agents such as VX or sarin, and are more difficult to identify.
A Russian government spokesman said Germany did not inform the Russians about the results of the toxicology test.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called on Russia to investigate the poisoning. “The identification and accountability of those responsible in Russia is urgent. We condemn this attack in the strictest terms.”
EU accuses Russia of “independent and transparent” investigation into Alexei Navalny
Another opponent poisoned with novichok
It is not the first time that a Russian opponent has been poisoned with novichok. In March 2018, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found unconscious in a park in England.
Later, it was learned that they had been poisoned with the substance. The two survived. Russia has denied being behind this incident.
Skripal is a former Russian spy who, according to Moscow, transmitted the names of Soviet agents working in the West to MI6, the British spy agency. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Russia in 2006, but was released under an agent exchange agreement in 2010.
The anti-corruption activist felt unwell and lost consciousness aboard a plane heading to Moscow on August 20, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk. There he was admitted.
A Russian hospital doctor even said that no poison was found in Navalny’s body. His assistants and family do not believe it. For them, the opponent was the victim of an intentional poisoning due to his political activity, while having tea at the airport.
The politician was even in a coma. He was transferred from Russia to a Berlin hospital in August, in a stable condition.
The ambulance that transported him was escorted by German police from Berlin airport to the Charité hospital, one of the most prestigious in Europe, according to AFP reporters.
