Russian authorities denied that president Vladimir Putin was involved in the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who has been in a coma since falling ill on board a flight to Moscow last week.
Navalny’s associates have accused the Kremlin of being involved in Navalny’s poisoning as well as in blocking his move to a hospital in Berlin.
On Monday Berlin’s Charite hospital said that “clinical evidence suggests an intoxication through a substance belonging to the group of cholinesterase inhibitors”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was unclear to the Kremlin why the German doctors were “rushing” to use the word poisoning, adding that Navalny’s condition could have been triggered by a variety of causes. Doctors who treated Navalny in Russia said they tested him for cholinesterase inhibitors and did not find any.
Peskov added that the accusations against the government “absolutely cannot be true and are rather an empty noise”: “We do not intend to take it seriously”, he said.
The Kremlin also refused to open a criminal investigation into Navalny’s poisoning. “There must be a reason for an investigation. For the moment, all you and I see is that the patient is in a coma. If the substance is identified and if it is determined that it is poisoning, then, of course, this will be a reason for investigation”, Peskov said.
