Alexei Navalny was medically evacuated to Germany at the end of August after falling ill on a plane
The Hague:
The global chemical weapons watchdog said on Tuesday that samples taken from Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who claims he was poisoned by the Kremlin, contained a Novichok-type nerve agent.
The findings of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirm similar findings from a military laboratory in Germany, where Navalny was treated in hospital, and in laboratories in France and Sweden.
OPCW chief Fernando Arias “said these findings are a matter of serious concern,” the Hague-based watchdog said in a statement.
The OPCW said blood and urine samples taken in Navalny, Germany by the watchdog’s own experts contained signs of a “cholinesterase inhibitor” – a type of nerve agent.
The traces “have similar structural characteristics to toxic chemicals” found in two Novichok chemicals that were banned by the Hague-based body in 2019.
The specific type of Novichok found in Navalny’s samples, however, was not itself one of those placed on the banned list last year, the OPCW added.
Germany had formally requested “technical assistance” from the OPCW, which member states are entitled to do when they believe there has been a chemical weapons incident.
OPCW chief Arias added that “the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances (is) reprehensible and totally contrary to legal standards set by the international community”.
He said it was “important now” for (OPCW member states) “to live up to the standard they decided to adhere to over 25 years ago” when they signed the Convention of United Nations on chemical weapons.
Navalny was medically evacuated to Germany at the end of August after falling ill on a plane and spending several days in a Siberian hospital.
Tests carried out by a German military laboratory revealed that he had been poisoned with the Soviet-designed nerve agent Novichok.
Russia insists its medical tests did not find poison in Navalny’s system and did not accept Germany’s claims, saying it needed more evidence.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
