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Berlin (AFP)
The German government announced Wednesday that medical examinations carried out by Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in a German army laboratory confirmed the existence of “conclusive evidence” that he was the victim of poisoning with a “Novichok type” nerve.
This toxic substance was used against former double agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia in 2018 in England, according to British authorities, in a case that caused a diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow.
The government said in a statement that it “condemns this attack in the strongest terms” and requests “urgent” explanations from Russia about this poisoning.
A German Armed Forces laboratory examined Navalny, who was admitted to the Berlin hospital in late August after being transferred from Siberia.
The German government revealed that these tests had given “conclusive evidence of the presence of the neurotoxic type Navalny chemical.”
And he considered: “It is shocking that Alexei Navalny has been the victim of an attack with a toxic neurochemical in Russia.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met ministers concerned about this issue, will deliver a speech on Wednesday at 3:30 pm GMT.
The government said: “The Foreign Ministry will inform the Russian ambassador of the results of the investigation.”
He indicated that Germany will also inform its “European Union and NATO partners of the results of the investigation,” adding that it will “discuss an appropriate joint response with its partners in light of the Russian statement.”
The German government also intends to “communicate with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,” which prohibits the use of Novichok-type materials.
The government concluded: “We expect a full recovery from Navalny.”
Navalny is the most prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and posts denouncing the corruption of the Russian elite are widely shared on social media.
© 2020 AFP
