German govt: Navalny poisoned with chemical nerve agent
BERLIN/MOSCOW. Sept 2 (Interfax) – Russian opposition member Alexei Navalny was poisoned in Russia with a chemical nerve agent used in warfare, German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday.
"The fact that Alexei Navalny has fallen victim to an attack with the use of a chemical nerve agent in Russia is a blatant incident," Seibert said in a statement obtained by Interfax.
"At the request of Berlin's Charite University Hospital, the Bundeswehr special laboratory has carried out a toxicological study of Alexei Navalny's samples. Indications of a Novichok-type military-grade toxic nerve agent were definitely discovered," Seibert said.
Berlin called on Moscow to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident involving the Russian opposition activist.
"The federal government [of Germany] condemns this attack in the most resolute way and calls on the Russian government to provide clarification on this score," Seibert said.
According to the statement, Germany's Federal Foreign Office will summon the Russian ambassador in Berlin to talk about the situation surrounding Navalny.
"The German Federal Foreign Office will advise the Russian ambassador on the results of the screening," it said.
The German government will inform its partners in the European Union, NATO, and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of the situation, and a joint response will be discussed, Seibert said.
"The Federal Government will inform its partners in the EU and NATO about the results of the inquiry via the German Federal Foreign Office and the envisaged channels," he said.
"The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons will be informed afterward," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that Moscow is still waiting for Berlin's response to an inquiry from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office concerning the situation surrounding Navalny.
"Waiting for a response to the inquiry from the Prosecutor General's Office," the Foreign Ministry told Interfax on Wednesday.
A source in Moscow told Interfax on Wednesday that Russian experts from several laboratories have not found any toxic agents in Navalny's system and there are no grounds to disbelieve them.
"Several laboratories at once examined the biological materials collected from Navalny. No toxic agents were found," the source said.
"We believe these findings," the source said.
Navalny continues to be treated in an intensive care unit, where he is being kept in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator. While his condition remains serious, there is no immediate danger to his life. However, due to the severity of the patient's poisoning, it remains too early to gauge potential long-term effects.
Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20. The plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. The opposition activist was hospitalized in a coma and placed in intensive care. On the morning of August 22, he was airlifted to the Charite hospital in Berlin. Charite doctors said that they found traces of poisoning with cholinesterase inhibitors in Navalny's system. Several medications and a large group of dangerous nerve agents are based on these substances. In this light, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office sent a request for legal assistance in the situation surrounding Navalny to Germany; Russia inquired about the proof of the preliminary diagnoses voiced by the hospital.