Germany confirms Navalny was poisoned with Novichok
ALEXEI NAVALNY, the Russian opposition leader and prominent Kremlin critic, was deliberately poisoned with Novichok, the German government said yesterday.
Angela Merkel’s government said it had “unequivocal proof ” Mr Navalny was targeted with the same nerve agent used in the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
Germany demanded an immediate explanation from Russia and was consulting with its Nato and EU allies “on an appropriate joint response”, a spokesman for Mrs Merkel said.
Russia claimed it was not aware of the allegations. “Such information hasn’t been relayed to us,” said a Kremlin
spokesman. Mr Navalny is in an in- duced coma in Berlin’s Charite hospital. He was flown to Germany after falling ill on a flight from Tomsk, in Siberia, to Moscow last month.
“This is disturbing information about the attempted murder through poisoning against a leading Russian opposition figure,” Mrs Merkel said.
Samples tested at a German military laboratory showed clear evidence Mr Navalny was poisoned with “a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group”, Mrs Merkel’s spokesman said. “The German government condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms,” they added.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said: “It’s outrageous that a chemical weapon was used against Alexei
Navalny. We have seen first-hand the deadly consequences of Novichok in the UK.
“The Russian government must now explain what happened to Mr Navalny – we will work with international partners to ensure justice is done.”
Novichok, developed secretly by the Soviet Union from 1971 to 1993, is believed to be one of the deadliest chemical weapons ever produced, more than eight times deadlier than VX gas.
It was identified by the defence labo- ratory in Porton Down as the poison used in the attempted murder of Col Skripal, a Russian double agent, and Yulia, his 33-year-old daughter in 2018.
It was also responsible for the death of Dawn Sturgess and the poisoning of Charlie Rowley, her partner, in Amesbury, after they came into contact with Novichok left from the Skripal attack.
It is believed that a cup of tea Mr Navalny drank in Tomsk airport may have been poisoned.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Mrs Merkel defended a controversial gas pipeline between Russia and Germany and condemned US threats of sanctions as “illegal”. She will now face pressure to take a clear stance against Russia. The EU and US imposed sanctions in the wake of the Skripal poisoning. Germany said it had also notified the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said: “We will work closely with Germany, our allies and international partners to demonstrate that there are consequences for using banned chemical weapons anywhere in the world.”
The Kremlin previously described claims Mr Navalny was poisoned as “empty noise”, and the Russian doctors who treated him insisted toxicology tests were negative. “Russia is interested more than anyone else in determining the true causes of this incident and has repeatedly displayed willingness to cooperate,” said Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
“To poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one,” Leonid Volkov, a longtime ally of Mr Navalny, posted on Twitter – alongside a photograph of the signature of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.