Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the ‘Novichok’ group of nerve agents, says Germany

In an announcement on Wednesday, September 2, the German government cited “unequivocal evidence” that Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the ‘Novichok’ group of nerve agents — the same poison reportedly used in the attack against ex-spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in England in March 2018.

German officials also condemned the attempt on Navalny’s life and demanded an explanation from Moscow about what happened.

Navalny was hospitalized in a coma on August 20 after becoming violently ill aboard a flight to Moscow. Roughly two days later, he was transferred to the Charité Hospital in Berlin, where German doctors soon reported that they’d found evidence of cholinesterase inhibitors in Navalny’s system. The Russian physicians who initially treated Navalny in Omsk say they found no traces of poison in his test results.

Novichok developer Leonid Rink told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that Navalny’s symptoms don’t resemble Novichok poisoning.