Novichok case – Russian arrogance or incompetence?
DETAILS of the mystery surrounding novichok- poisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, left, graduate from bizarre to weird. This protester against Russian mega- corruption in high places has been a thorn in the side of Russian gangster- in- office Vladimir Putin for years.
On a flight from Siberia to Moscow he was taken ill. The plane made an emergency stop in Omsk ( halfway) and he was removed in a coma to hospital.
He was then flown, still in a coma, to Berlin and lodged in the world- class Charité Hospital. Here doctors declared beyond a doubt the toxin was nerve agent novichok. You cannot just walk into the nearest pharmacy and buy novichok. It is a government- developed and owned killer.
So, why was he given permission to leave Russia? The authorities who doped him must have known, as with the Skripals in Salisbury, that the toxin would be identified. So why let him go? He could have been liquidated in Siberia.
The price they paid for the Skripals was huge. About 150 of their diplomats ( agents) were expelled worldwide. Now it seems Germany is so infuriated that the clinching of the gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 may be ( for Russia) fatally jeopardised.
Russia desperately needs that gas deal. If it crashes and there is no income from wealthier Germany for Russian gas, Moscow’s economy could slide towards bankruptcy. It seems they just don’t care any more. The only alternative is incompetence beyond belief.