Kremlin accuses Alexie Navalny’s aides of taking potential evidence out of country

Russia on September 18 accused opposition leader Alexie Navalny’s aides of taking potential evidence out of the country and said that Kremlin’s ability to probe the suspected poisoning was ‘limited’. While speaking to international media reporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that Moscow’s hands were tied because Germany has not yet shared its findings with the Russian authorities.

Navalny’s team on Thursday had said that German experts found traces of Novichok agent on bottles collected from the Siberian hotel room where Putin-critic stayed before being taken ill last month. The bottles are one of the key evidence for Germany’s conclusion that Navalny was poisoned with the banned chemical weapon. 

READ: Navalny Was Poisoned In Hotel Room And Not At Airport, Claims His Team

While four German laboratories that took tests from Navalny confirmed that he was poisoned, Peskov said that the bottle, ‘if it existed’, has been taken somewhere. He added that what has become a ‘piece of evidence’ proving poisoning has unfortunately been taken out. Peskov even went on to cast a doubt on Germany’s findings, saying that it would not be possible to take a bottle with traces of a nerve agency out of the country because that person would simply ‘have no time’ to do that due to the toxicity of the substance. 

READ: Novichok-tinged Bottle Found In Navalny’s Room: Colleagues

Navalny’s poisoning 

Alexei Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, fell sick under mysterious circumstances on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug 20. He was rushed to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing. Navalny was put into an artificial coma and was moved to Germany after much debate over his transfer. Navalny had remained in an induced coma until September 7 when doctors treating him informed that his condition has improved. 

Doctors in Russia had denied any poison traces in Navalny's blood but when he reached Germany it was confirmed that he was poisoned. Russia has dismissed allegations of a state-sponsored attack on Navalny and has demanded more evidence in order to start a criminal investigation into the case.  

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