Experts from France and Sweden have confirmed that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the Novichok group. This was announced by the press secretary of the German federal government, Steffen Seibert.
Earlier, specialists of the specialized laboratory of the Bundeswehr conducted a toxicological study of biomaterial samples obtained from Navalny and found that the politician's poisoning was caused by a nerve agent from the "Novichok" group.
"This is a serious violation of the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Therefore, the federal government turned to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons with a request to help analyze the evidence related to Navalny's case," the German government said.
Moreover, the federal government demanded that France and Sweden, as European partners, conduct an independent examination of the evidence of German specialists based on new samples taken from Navalny. As a result, specialized laboratories in France and Sweden confirmed Germany's conclusions about the poisoning of Navalny with "Novichok".
"We once again call on Russia to make a statement on this incident," it is written in the message of the German government.
As a reminder, Navalny became ill on August 20 on a plane flying from Tomsk to Moscow. The flight made an emergency landing in Omsk, and the comatose oppositionist was hospitalized in intensive care. On August 22, he was transported to Germany for treatment at the Berlin Charite clinic.
On September 2, the German authorities announced that traces of poison from the "Novichok" group were found in the body of a Russian opposition leader. On September 7, Navalny was taken out of an induced coma, his condition has improved.
