'Proof without doubt' that Navalny was poisoned, says Germany
| Berlin
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy, the German government said Wednesday, provoking outrage from Western leaders who demanded Moscow provide an explanation.
The findings 鈥� which experts say point strongly to Russian state involvement 鈥� added to tensions between Russia and the West. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Mr. Navalny鈥檚 poisoning attempted murder, meant to silence one of Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 fiercest critics.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Thursday that Russian authorities still had not received any evidence from Germany to back up their allegation.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 received any information so far,鈥� Mr. Peskov said. 鈥淲e hope that it will happen soon and will help figure out what caused the condition the patient is in right now.鈥�
The Berlin hospital treating the dissident said he remains on a ventilator though his condition is improving. It said it expects a long recovery and still can鈥檛 rule out long-term effects on his health from the poisoning.
The German government said that testing by a German military laboratory showed 鈥減roof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.鈥� British authorities identified Novichok as the poison used on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England.
鈥淭here are very serious questions now that only the Russian government can answer, and must answer,鈥� Ms. Merkel said.
The United Kingdom and Italy also called on Russia to explain what happened, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling the use of a chemical weapon 鈥渙utrageous.鈥� In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot tweeted that it was 鈥渃ompletely reprehensible.鈥�
鈥淲e will work with allies and the international community to hold those in Russia accountable, wherever the evidence leads,鈥� Mr. Ullyot said.
The European Union鈥檚 foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said any use of chemical weapons was 鈥渁 breach of international law.鈥�
Mr. Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.
He was moved two days later to Berlin鈥檚 Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Mr. Navalny had been poisoned.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the Russian ambassador was summoned to his ministry Wednesday after the latest findings.
Russia鈥檚 deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, dismissed the finger pointing as a knee-jerk reaction. 鈥淭oday accusing #Russia is a must-do for any Western country,鈥� he said in a tweet.
In Moscow, Russian authorities were quick to blame Germany for not sharing its findings.
Mr. Peskov said Russian authorities are 鈥渞eady and interested in full cooperation and exchange of information鈥� with Germany but added that Berlin still hasn鈥檛 provided any official response to formal requests from the Russian prosecutor general鈥檚 office and doctors who treated Mr. Navalny.
Mr. Peskov reiterated that Russian doctors didn鈥檛 find any poisonous substances in Navalny鈥檚 system. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charged on state TV that Germany preferred 鈥減ublic statements without providing any facts whatsoever鈥� to 鈥渁 thorough investigation.鈥�
The German government said it would inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the test results and would consult them on a response. Germany also will contact the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Shortly after the test results were announced, the Charite hospital said that Mr. Navalny is still in intensive care but 鈥渃ontinues to improve.鈥�
鈥淩ecovery is likely to be lengthy,鈥� it said in a statement. 鈥淚t is still too early to gauge the long-term effects, which may arise in relation to this severe poisoning.鈥�
Andrea Sella, a professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, said Mr. Navalny鈥檚 prognosis is hard to predict. He said that 鈥渧ery swift action鈥� is needed to stabilize patients in poisoning cases and noted the 鈥渟ignificant delay,鈥� given that Mr. Navalny was initially cared for by Russian doctors who said they had ruled out poisoning.
鈥淭he problem is that even if Mr. Navalny were to survive there may be lingering long-term neurological issues,鈥� Ms. Sella said.
Mr. Navalny鈥檚 allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the country鈥檚 authorities, accusations that the Kremlin has rejected as 鈥渆mpty noise.鈥�
鈥淭o poison Navalny with Novichok in 2020 would be exactly the same as leaving an autograph at a crime scene, like this one,鈥� Mr. Navalny鈥檚 longtime ally and strategist Leonid Volkov said in a tweet that featured a photo of Mr. Putin鈥檚 name and a signature next to it.
It would not be the first time a prominent, outspoken Russian was targeted in such a way 鈥� or the first time the Kremlin was accused of being behind it.
Mr. Navalny鈥檚 allies have also accused Russian authorities of delaying his transfer out of the country after the poisoning. It took much wrangling and 48 hours to move Mr. Navalny to Berlin. Local doctors at the time said he was too unstable to be transported, and the Kremlin said it would defer to the physicians.
The Siberian medical team relented only after a charity that had organized a medevac plane revealed that German doctors who examined the politician said he was stable enough to be moved.
The reversal came as international pressure on Moscow mounted substantially.
鈥淭he system has long lost its ability to operate in an optimal way. It had to choose between the scandal related to Navalny鈥檚 [possible] death in Omsk and the risk of the poisoning being discovered by German doctors,鈥� political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said.
Novichok is a class of military-grade nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Western weapons experts believe it was only ever manufactured in Russia. After the Skripals were poisoned, Russia said the U.S., Britain, and other Western countries had acquired the expertise to make the nerve agent and that the Novichok used in that attack could have come from them.
Several Russian lawmakers have said Russia isn鈥檛 manufacturing Novichok-type agents.
鈥淯nless you are working for the military, it is impossible to be accidentally exposed,鈥� Richard Parsons, a senior lecturer in biochemical toxicology at King鈥檚 College London, said. 鈥淚t is unavailable from anywhere except the Russian military as far as I am aware.鈥�
Britain charged two Russians 鈥� alleged to be agents of the Russian military intelligence service GRU 鈥� in absentia with the 2018 attack that left the Skripals in critical condition and killed a British woman. Russia has refused to extradite the men to the U.K.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Daria Litvinova in Moscow, Jill Lawless in London, Raf Casert in Brussels, Matthew Lee in Washington, David Rising and Frank Jordans in Berlin, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
