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The German government said toxicological tests conducted by a special army laboratory revealed that Russian opponent Alexei Navalny, hospitalized in Germany, was poisoned with a dangerous nerve agent, novichok, developed by Russia in the 1980s and 1990s. it was used in the past to poison opponents of President Vladimir Putin. In recent days, the Charité hospital in Berlin had said that Navalny had been poisoned, but had not yet specified the substance ingested.
In a statement, the German government said “it is shocking that Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia ”, He condemned “this attack in the strongest possible terms” and urged the Russian government to explain what happened. The government added that the Foreign Ministry will inform the Russian ambassador about the results of the investigation and that it will discuss with the other countries of the European Union and NATO “an appropriate joint reaction” towards Russia. Commenting on the test results, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that “it is clear that Alexei Navalny was the victim of a crime” and that “the purpose was to silence him.”
Novichok is the same nerve agent used in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, which occurred in England on March 4, 2018. Both Skripal and his daughter survived, and subsequent British government investigations revealed that the two were poisoned by three Russian military intelligence agents. Russia has always denied its involvement and has repeatedly accused the UK of organizing the attack.
Navalny, the most important opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had been transferred to Germany after two days of hospitalization in Omsk, Russia, after what immediately appeared to be a case of poisoning. Before allowing Navalny to move abroad, the Omsk doctors had changed their version of his condition several times, eventually going so far as to argue that the tests had ruled out that there had been poisoning and Navalny was sick from low blood sugar. . He is currently in a medically induced coma and is in very serious condition.
Navalny, 44, in addition to being Putin’s best-known opponent, is also considered a profitable investigative journalist, thanks to publishing articles and inquiries into corruption scandals. Due to his political activity and his work as a journalist, over the years he has been arrested and imprisoned on several occasions, often under pretexts and for political reasons.
– Read also: How Navalny changed the opposition in Russia
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