German police investigate possible poisonings of Russian journalist and activists in Berlin

Berlin police have opened an investigation into the alleged poisoning of two participants in a conference of Russian opposition leaders, which was organized by Mikhail Khodarkovsky in the German capital in late April.

The police announced their investigation in response to a request from the German publication Welt Am Sonntag. The department has not disclosed details about its investigation or possible defendants. 

On May 16, Russian publication Agentstvo reported that Natalia Arno, head of the Free Russia Foundation, and a Russian journalist who recently left the country had complained about symptoms of poisoning and health problems. Both were participants in the Berlin opposition conference.

The journalist, whose name Agentstvo did not disclose, reported that her symptoms “had possibly started before the conference.” She declined to describe the symptoms or how they were treated.

Agentstvo linked these events with the alleged poisoning of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst and with an intrusion into the hotel room of Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev, suggesting that the people involved in all of the cases may have links to Russian intelligence services.