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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the deadly Novichok family, the German the government said Wednesday, demanding explanations from Moscow.
“The Russian government is urged to explain the incident … the substance in Navalny’s body is undoubtedly of the Novichok family “, Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
Noted Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny remains in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator for more than a week after falling ill from apparent poisoning, but his symptoms appear to be disappearing. Navalny, 44, has been receiving treatment in Germany after spending two days in a Siberian hospital where Russian doctors ruled out that the de facto leader of the Russian opposition was poisoned.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded responses from Russia on the case on Wednesday.
“This has raised some very serious questions that only Russia can and should answer,” Merkel said, adding that “the intention was to silence him.”
The Kremlin said late Wednesday that Russia was ready to fully cooperate with Germany.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “In general, we confirm that we are ready and have an interest in full cooperation and data exchange on this issue with Germany,” the state news agency RIA Novosti said.
The head of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen, denounced what she called the act “despicable and cowardly” and said that those responsible must be brought to justice.
The case has drawn parallels to two alleged Kremlin-related poisonings in Britain.
In 2006, President Vladimir Putin was blamed for the radiation poisoning death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in the British capital.
In 2018, the Kremlin was also accused of being behind the attempted assassination of former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, south-west England, using a Novichok nerve agent.
Reacting to the news, Navalny’s assistant Leonid Volkov linked the poisoning to Russian President Vladimir Putin
“In 2020, poisoning Navalny with Novichok is like leaving (Putin’s) autograph at the crime scene,” Volkov wrote on Twitter.
The Charité hospital in Berlin where Navalny is treated issued a statement Thursday night, stating that the Kremlin critic remains a fan in serious condition.
The clinic said that while poisoning symptoms are gradually fading, doctors expected a prolonged recovery period and “possible long-term consequences of poisoning.”
AFP contributed reporting.
This story is being updated.
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