Speaking from his hospital room in Berlin’s Charite Hospital, 44-year Alexi Navalny posted a picture of himself recovering from Novichok poisoning that happened Sept 2, most likely drinking tea at the Tomsk airport in Siberia. When Navalny flew from Tomsk to Berlin, his flight was diverted to Omsk, after he took ill and lapsed into a coma. Russian officials put Navalny on an urgent flight to Berlin where he’s been tested and treated for Novichok poisoning. Germany’s military and hospital labs confirmed the findings, with German medical authorities sending fluid samples to the Hague in the Netherlands to further confirm the Novichok findings. “I have been missing you. I still can’t do almost anything on my own, but yesterday I managed to breathe on my own for the entire day,” Navalny said, with his wife Yulia and two children at his side, trying to sound upbeat to his1.1 million Instagram followers.
Navalny’s spokesman Kira Yarmysh tweeted that once he recovers, he plans to return to Russia and resume his role as the leader of Russia’s opposition. Watching Navalny fall ill was strangely reminiscent of 69-year-old former KGB agent Sergei Skripal and his 36-year-old daughter Yulia were poisoned March 4, 2018 in Salisbury, U.K. Both survived the poisoning after extended hospital stays, knowing that it’s no accident or random event that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok. Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped that Navalny would stay in Germany or seek exile somewhere in the West, instead of returning to Russia. “No other option has ever been considered,” Yarmysk said, meaning Navalny expects to return as opposition leader when he’s recovered. Now off his ventilator, it looks like Navalny’s well on his way to recovery, despite having a ways to go.
Navalny said he was thrilled to be taken off the ventilator, breathing no on his own. “Just on my own, no extra help. I didn’t even use the simplest valve in my throat,” Navalny said. “I liked it very much. It’s a remarkable process that is underestimated by many. Strongly recommended,” displaying some of his trademark sarcastic humor. Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons agreed to analyze fluid samples to further confirm the Novichok diagnosis. Kremlin officials rejected calls by 66-year-old German Chancellor Angela Merkel to come clean on what happened to Navalny. Germany’s 53-year-old Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there would be consequences if Russian were not forthcoming with information about Navalny’s Sept. 2 poisoning. Maas wasn’t specific but hinted Sept. 6 that Germany could revisit the Nordstream 2 Pipeline, supplying natural gas from Russia to Europe.
With Germany getting about 80% of its natural gas from Russia, it’s doubtful Navalny’s poisoning would cause Berlin to reconsider the Nordstream 2 pipeline currently involving some 12 Germany companies. Putin set the tone of the Kremlin’s response to Navalny’s poisoning, rejecting accusations that Russia was involved. Navalny’s poisoning “underlined the impropriety of unfounded accusation against the Russian side,” Putin told Germany, denying any involvement. With no one other than Russia producing Novichok, it’s doubtful that any other country attempted to poison Russia’s opposition leader other than Putin. “Russia has be absolutely open for cooperation in determining what happened,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asking Germany to share toxicology reports identifying Novichok as the poison found in Navalny’s body.
Peskov repeated Putin’s party line that the wanted proof of what happened in Navalny’s toxicology screenings. “Russia needs cooperation with the German side in getting the patient’s biological samples to be abed to advance,” Peskcov said. Peskov knows that fluid samples were taken from the Omsk hospital in Siberia where Navany spent two days before shipped off to Germany for the Novichok antidote. Russia’s call for fluid samples or copies of toxicology reports shows how the Kremlin like to cover things up when they’re caught red handed Of course Russia’s Omsk hospital has all the tissue or fluid samples the Kremilin needs to confirm that Novichok was the substance found in Navalny’s blood. Pulling out the big guns, 70-year-old smooth-talking Kremlin propagandist Sergey Lavrov warned Maas about politicizing the situation, asking again for fluid samples.
Putin continues to intimidate the European Union [EU] threatening consequences if it continues to accuse the Kremlin of targeted assassinations of former Russian spies and opposition figures. Lavrov accused Germany of meddling in Russia’s internal affairs accusing the Kremlin of involvement is Navalny’s assassination attempt. With an established track record of poisonings, unexplained shootings and other mishaps, Russia sends a loud message to the EU or United States not to mess with Russia. Calling EU attitude a “lack of desire to help determine the truth as part of an objective and thorough investigation, Lavrov essentially tells Brussels to get over it. Russia’s director of its Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshikin said Russian doctors in Omsk found no evidence of Novichok poisoning. Putin continues to insult the intelligence of Western leaders.
