German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Spokesman – Steffen Seibert has accused in a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s critic – Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.
Toxicological tests on samples taken from Navalny were conducted at German Military Laboratory. As per the reports, there is unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group — Soviet-era chemical weapons.
Navalny fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on August 20, 2020 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian City of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing. On August 22, 2020, he was transported to Berlin on a medical evacuation flight paid for by the German non-governmental organisation – Cinema for Peace. Navalny is currently being treated at Charite Hospital in Berlin, Germany.
Siebert said in a statement, ” The German government condemns this attack in the strongest terms. The Russian government is urgently requested to provide clarifications over the incident.”
Addressing a Press Conference – Angela Merkel said, “Alexey Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group,” Merkel said. “This poison can be detected without a doubt in the samples.”
She further said, “This means that Alexey Navalny is definitely the victim of a crime. They wanted to silence him and I condemn this in the strongest possible terms, also on behalf of the entire Federal Government.”
Asking Russia for a response, Merkel said, “There are very serious questions now which only the Russian government can and must answer.”
The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia have contested the German hospital’s claim and have ruled out the possibility of Navalny being poisoned. They also said that they had tested Navalny for poisonous substances, but his reports came back negative. The Russian doctors released Navalny with a ‘metabolic disorder’ diagnosis. Two labs in Russia didn’t find anything suspicious and a pre-investigation didn’t find anything leading to foul play.
The name Novichok means “newcomer” in Russian and applies to a group of advanced nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. They were known as fourth-generation chemical weapons and were developed under a Soviet programme codenamed Foliant. Novichok’s existence was revealed by chemist Dr. Vil Mirzayanov in the 1990s, via Russian media. Novichok is a military grade nerve agent, which was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the United Kingdom (U.K.) in 2018. The use of this chemical weapon has been banned globally.
Putin’s Spokesman – Dmitry Peskov said Russia was not informed of the German findings and had no such data. The Foreign Minister of Germany – Heiko Maas has urged Moscow to investigate the poisoning. German Government would inform its partners in the European Union (EU) and NATO about the Novichok test results.
Meanwhile, Germany summoned the Russian ambassador – Sergei Nechayev to explain the evidence. Reacting to this, the Foreign Minister of Russia – Maria Zakharova said that when Sergei Nechayev, asked for evidence, he received no answer, no facts, no data and no formulae from the German officials.
The United Kingdom (U.K.) has come-out in support of Germany and has said that it will work closely with Germany, its allies and international partners to demonstrate that there are consequences for using banned chemical weapons anywhere in the world.
Appealing for justice, the President of United Kingdom (U.K.) – Boris Johnson tweeted, “It’s outrageous that a chemical weapon was used against Alexey 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.”
It’s outrageous that a chemical weapon was used against Alexey 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.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) September 2, 2020
The President of the European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen has also condemned the attack.
“I was informed by Chancellor Merkel that Russian opposition leader Navalny was attacked with a nerve agent, in his own country. This is a despicable and cowardly act – once again. Perpetrators need to be brought to justice,” she posted on Twitter.
I was informed by Chancellor Merkel that Russian opposition leader Navalny was attacked with a nerve agent, in his own country. This is a despicable and cowardly act – once again. Perpetrators need to be brought to justice.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 2, 2020
