Alexei Navalny fell unwell on a home flight final month and was handled in a Siberian hospital.
Berlin, Germany:
Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny has accused President Vladimir Putin of being behind his poisoning, in his first interview printed since he left the German hospital the place he was handled.
“I assert that Putin is behind this act, I do not see every other rationalization,” he informed the German weekly Der Spiegel, which printed extracts from the interview on its web site Thursday.
Navalny was evacuated to Berlin for therapy after he collapsed in August whereas on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow after a marketing campaign journey to help opposition candidates in native elections.
The Kremlin critic was discharged simply over per week in the past and his first feedback to the press got here as European leaders have been holding a summit throughout which the query of a response to Russia could also be raised over the Kremlin critic’s case.
Germany, which holds the presidency of the EU, has stated toxicology checks present he was poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
France and Sweden have independently corroborated Germany’s findings.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s authorities has additionally warned Moscow of attainable sanctions if it did not totally examine the case.
In an indication of how severely she was taking the case, the German chief paid a go to to Navalny within the Berlin hospital Charite the place he was receiving therapy.
The Kremlin has firmly denied allegations of involvement and accused Western leaders of launching a disinformation marketing campaign over the opposition chief’s sickness.
As a substitute, it pointed to checks carried out by Russian docs who first handled Navalny exhibiting no poisonous substances.
Lengthy rehabilitation
Navalny was lastly discharged on September 22 after spending 32 days within the Charite hospital within the German capital, together with 24 days in intensive care.
The Kremlin critic has been energetic on social media since being introduced out of the coma.
Posting of himself sitting on a Berlin bench, Navalny stated on Instagram final week he was removed from totally recovered and would require rehabilitation.
“The plans are all the time easy: a physiotherapist daily. Presumably a rehabilitation centre. Stand on one leg. Take again management of my fingers fully. Keep steadiness,” he wrote.
In a separate weblog submit, he had additionally stated that the three European labs had discovered Novichok “in and on my physique”.
He famous that Russia had nonetheless not opened an investigation however that he “didn’t count on the rest.”
Navalny’s poisoning has heightened tensions between Russia and the West, particularly aggravating the connection with Germany.
Merkel had all the time insisted on preserving channels of dialogue open with Moscow however she has sharpened her tone these days, with Navalny’s case coming a yr after a homicide in a central Berlin park that German prosecutors say was ordered by Russia.
Navalny aides stated that German consultants discovered Novichok on a water bottle taken from the lodge room the place he stayed earlier than being taken unwell.
The bottle seems to have been key proof for Germany’s conclusion that the lawyer and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin was poisoned with the lethal nerve agent.
Novichok was additionally used to poison ex-double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, in 2018. He survived.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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