German police investigate ‘poisoning’ of Russian exiles

GERMAN police are investigating the possible poisoning of exiled Russians after a journalist and an activist reported health problems following a meeting of dissidents in Berlin.

The inquiry is being handled by the state security unit, a specialist team that examines cases related to terrorism or politically motivated crimes, a Berlin police spokesman said.

The development came after a report by Russian investigative media outlet Agentstvo, which said two participants who attended an April 29-30 meeting of Russian dissidents in Berlin experienced health problems.

The meeting was organised by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the exiled former oligarch turned Kremlin critic.

One participant, identified as a journalist who had recently left Russia, experienced unspecified symptoms during the event but said the symptoms may have started earlier.

The report added that the journalist went to the Charite Hospital in Berlin – which is where Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was treated after being poisoned in August 2020.

The second participant mentioned was Natalia Arno, director of the NGO Free Russia Foundation in the US, where she has lived for 10 years after leaving Russia.

Ms Arno confirmed the incident on Facebook, saying she had initially thought she was affected by jet lag and fatigue when she felt unwell in Berlin.

She subsequently travelled to Prague where she found her hotel room door open and detected a strange smell like cheap perfume in the room. But the odour was no longer there when she returned later in the night.

She said she woke up very early with “intense pain and strange symptoms”.

She took the next plane back to the US and on the flight the symptoms became “very strange, through the whole body and with pronounced numbness”.

She was treated by emergency services but the tests showed that she was in good shape, like “an astronaut”.

She added that “Western special services” are investigating.