German doctors 'rushed to conclusion' on Alexei Navalny 'poisoning' says Kremlin
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman on Tuesday said German doctors had “rushed to conclusions” over the suspected poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and rejected claims the Russian president had any hand in the incident.
The Charité Hospital in Berlin, where Mr Navalny remains unconscious after suddenly falling ill last week, on Monday said multiple tests showed the activist had been poisoned.
Doctors noted the effects of “cholinesterase inhibitors”, a group of chemical compounds that includes Novichok, the nerve agent used against ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “A decrease in the level of cholinesterase is possible for a variety of reasons, for example when taking and using various medications.
“We do not understand why our German colleagues are in such a hurry to use the word poisoning.”
Mr Peskov dismissed as “empty noise” the idea that the Kremlin might have ordered any poisoning. Russia did not see any reason to open a criminal investigation into the incident, he added.
The Charité Hospital said it was working to establish the exact toxin that had poisoned Mr Navalny but was treating him with atropine, the same medication British doctors gave Mr Skripal and his daughter following the 2018 Salisbury attack.
Cholinesterase inhibitors are found in nerve agents, pesticides and some medicines, including those that relieve symptoms of dementia.
Mr Navalny, Russia’s most outspoken critic of Putin, was suddenly taken ill and began crying out in pain on Thursday during a flight to Moscow from Siberia.
The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the 44-year old was treated by local doctors. They said they found no evidence of poisoning and instead gave a diagnosis of a “metabolic disorder”.
Mr Navalny’s supporters insisted he travel abroad for treatment, accusing Russian authorities of directing doctors to cover up the cause of his illness.
The Omsk hospital initially said Mr Navalny was not fit to travel, before relenting. His wife accused doctors of delaying for a day so that traces of any toxin might be “flushed out” of his system before he reached foreign specialists.
German doctors said on Monday he would likely survive but there could be long-term effects including damage to the nervous system.
Mr Navalny is already partially blind in one eye after an assailant threw green dye in his face on a Moscow street in 2017.
Several prominent critics of Mr Putin have been poisoned, including ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvenenko, who died after being exposed to a radioactive substance in London in 2006.
Opposition activist Pyotr Verzilov was treated at the same German hospital as Mr Navalny in 2018, after what he said was an attack by the Russian security services.
The Kremlin has long denied any involvement in the incidents.
