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According to the German government, “unequivocal evidence” of a chemical nerve agent from the Novitschok group was provided to the Russian government critic Alexej Navalny, who is being treated in Germany. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Wednesday in Berlin. “With that one thing is certain: Alexei Navalny was the victim of a crime,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a first statement. That is surprising information.
“It should be silenced,” Merkel said. “I condemn this in the strongest possible terms, also on behalf of the entire federal government.” The federal government has also informed parliamentary groups in the Bundestag about the new findings and will also inform the organization for the ban on chemical weapons about the laboratory findings. Russia has also acceded to the Convention for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Merkel said the German government hopes that “the Russian government will rule on this very serious accusation. The world will wait for answers.”
The Foreign Ministry has now called the Russian ambassador. Chancellor Heiko Maas said in Berlin that the latter was “once again unequivocally sent the request of the federal government” to clarify the “background of this now proven poisoning of Alexej Navalny in full and with full transparency.”
This was determined by a special Bundeswehr laboratory at the behest of the Charité, Seibert said. He spoke of a “disheartening fact” https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/. “The German government condemns this attack in the strongest possible way.” Now the Russian government is “urgently requested to comment on the matter.” The federal government will now discuss an “appropriate joint reaction” with its partners in the EU and NATO.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had consulted with Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht, Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the head of the Federal Chancellery, Helge Braun, and agreed additional steps.
Russian researchers had previously requested information on medical findings from Germany. A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Justice in Berlin confirmed a corresponding report from the Russian newspaper. RBK (rbc.ru). According to this, the Moscow Prosecutor General addressed the Ministry on August 27. The spokesperson declined to provide further information.
The newspaper RBK reported that the Russian authorities wanted information about Navalny’s treatment, the results of blood and urine tests, and information about the substances found in the process.
Navalny has been treated at the Berlin Charité since August 22. The background is still unclear. Russian security authorities, on the other hand, have so far stated that they saw no grounds for an investigation. There are no indications of crime. Russian doctors had stated that they had found no evidence of poisoning.
La Charité commented for the last time on the case last Friday. Her condition is stable, she is still in an intensive care unit in an artificial coma and is mechanically ventilated. There is no serious danger to life, but the long-term consequences of “severe patient poisoning” are not foreseeable.
Navalny collapsed on August 20 on a domestic flight in Russia. He was first treated at the Siberian Omsk before being transferred to Germany. Russia is blamed for several poison attacks on Kremlin critics.
