Alexei Navalny is now being treated at the Charité hospital in Berlin
BERLIN, Aug 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Kremlin has dismissed accusations that President Vladimir Putin sanctioned the poisoning of critic Alexei Navalny.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the allegations were untrue and could not be taken seriously.
Doctors in Germany, where Navalny is being treated, said he had “probably” been poisoned but Peskov questioned why they had “rushed” to that opinion.
Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow last Thursday.
His supporters suspect poison was placed in a cup of tea at Tomsk airport.
The flight of the arch-Putin critic was diverted to Omsk, where doctors treated him for three days before he was transferred to the Charité hospital in Berlin.
His condition is serious but not life-threatening, the Berlin doctors say.
The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, has ordered a committee to investigate whether foreign forces were behind the suspected poisoning “to fuel tensions inside Russia.”
Navalny, 44, made his name by exposing official corruption, labelling Putin’s United Russia as “the party of crooks and thieves”. He has served several jail terms which he says were the result of politically motivated charges.
There have been a number of previous attacks on high-profile critics or opponents of President Putin, including politicians, intelligence officers and journalists. The Kremlin has always denied involvement.
Peskov said of the allegations of President Putin’s involvement: “We can’t take such accusations seriously. They absolutely cannot be true. They’re more like ’empty noise’, so we don’t intend to take them seriously.”
In response, Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, tweeted: “It was obvious that the crime would not be properly investigated and the culprit found. However, we all know perfectly well who he is.”
Peskov said the diagnoses by both Russian and German doctors matched but the “conclusions differ”.
“We don’t understand why our German colleagues are in such a hurry. The substance hasn’t yet been established,” he said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday called for a Russian investigation into the suspected poisoning. The UK also called for a “full and transparent” investigation.
Peskov said one would only be launched if poisoning were definitely established as a cause.
He is in intensive care and still in an artificial coma.
The Charité hospital says that “clinical evidence suggests an intoxication through a substance belonging to the group of cholinesterase inhibitors”.
The exact substance has not been identified. The inhibitors can be used to treat conditions like Alzheimer’s but can also be used in nerve agents. They block a crucial enzyme meaning that muscles, particularly those associated with breathing, can go into spasm.
Navalny has been treated with atropine. The Kremlin says Russian doctors also noted lowered cholinesterase levels and administered atropine, but found no evidence of poisoning.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia, said she feared Russian doctors had delayed his transfer as authorities were trying to wait for evidence of any chemical substance to disappear. — NNN-AGENCIES
