Western outrage after Putin critic Navalny ‘poisoned with Novichok’, deadly Soviet-era nerve agent

Germany confirms Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny poisoned with chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group

Navalny was flown to Berlin for treatment on August 22, two days after he fell ill on a domestic flight in Russia

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Published: 1:25pm, 3 Sep 2020Updated: 7:03pm, 3 Sep 2020

Western leaders have demanded an explanation from Moscow after the German government said 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.

“It is certain that Alexei Navalny is the victim of a crime,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

“He was meant to be silenced and I condemn this in the strongest possible terms, on behalf of the German government.”

Navalny, 44-year-old politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on a flight to Moscow on August 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’s Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned.

He has been one of the fiercest opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the past decade.

A German government spokesperson had confirmed that there was “unequivocal” evidence Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. This was the finding of a toxicology test carried out in a special laboratory of Germany’s military.