Germany says ‘fairly likely’ Navalny was poisoned

The German government announced on Monday, August 24, that it believes it is “fairly likely” that opposition politician Alexey Navalny was poisoned, spokesman Steffen Seibert said at a press conference.

Seibert also clarified that the German state didn’t invite Navalny to Berlin on an official level, but it did help facilitate his transfer from a hospital in Omsk, where the Russian opposition politician’s representatives say he received inadequate care.

Navalny has been in a coma since August 20 after becoming violently ill aboard a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. His family and colleagues believe he was poisoned. 

Navalny’s plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, where local doctors treated him for two days, initially refusing to issue the paperwork needed to transfer him to Berlin, arguing that Navalny’s condition was too unstable. Family and coworkers say this delay was deliberate, so the alleged toxins in Navalny’s body could disintegrate, making it impossible to identify the substance apparently used to poison him. 

Navalny’s diagnosis remains unknown. Physicians in Omsk say they have communicated their findings to his family. Health officials in Omsk reported that Navalny’s test results showed no traces of any poison.