Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has had an attack orchestrated on his life. He fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. It was thought that something had been mixed into his tea at the airport in Tomsk, and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Olmsk, where emergency personnel took Mr Navalny to hospital, where tests were carried out. Activists in Germany sent a plane to bring him to Berlin for treatment, but Russian authorities initially refused to allow him to be moved. He was airlifted to Charité hospital in Berlin on 23 August, funded by German NGO ‘Cinemas for Peace’ founder, Jaka Bizilj.
German doctors have now, after thorough testing, along with Russian doctors, concluded – A Novichock nerve agent was used in the assassination attempt on Russian government arch-critic Alexei Navalny. However, the conclusion differs considerably between the two countries.
Since the time of writing this article. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel has said in a personal statement that there is ‘unequivocal evidence Mr Navalny was ‘poisoned using a Novichock agent’ and has gone on to say that the European Union along with its NATO allies need to start asking serious questions, regarding Russian interference and calls on Russia to explain itself. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying ‘there is no grounds for accusing the Russian state’ . There has been no direct correlation between Alexei’s anti-corruption foundation, his outspokenness of Russian Government and the poisoning that has afflicted the outspoken critic.
Alexei Navalny founded in 2011, the Anti-Corruption Foundation of which, Its main goal is to investigate and to expose corruption cases among high-ranking Russian government officials. He made a name for himself after calling Mr Putin’s United Russia as “the party of crooks and thieves”. There has been no direct correlation between Alexei’s anti-corruption foundation, his outspokenness of Russian Government and the ailment that has afflicted the outspoken critic, however, speculation abounds.
Russia has been linked with other poisoning cases, among those – Russian, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia in the United Kingdom with a Novichok nerve agent; and the death of Alexander Litvinenko, former military officer in the FSB and KGB, by Radiation poisoning.
