en
Back to database
DISINFO: Berlin doesn’t have evidence that Navalny was poisoned

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

AI translations:

Tags:

novichok Alexei Navalny Chemical weapons/attack Sanctions

DISINFO: Berlin doesn’t have evidence that Navalny was poisoned

SUMMARY

Germany had claimed that [Alexei] Navalny had been subjected to a poisoning attempt with the nerve-stimulating substance “Novichok”, after it said that doctors found traces of this substance in a sample of Navalny’s blood, taken at the Charité hospital in Berlin, where Navalny was transferred from Omsk, Russia. Berlin did not rely on any evidence, prompting Moscow to describe the incident as a charade designed to justify the imposition of new sanctions on it.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny's poisoning. Navalny fell ill during a flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Omsk in Russia, before being transferred to Berlin where the German Federal government said that toxicological tests provided “unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group” in the blood samples of Alexei Navalny. In addition, on 14 September, the German government provided research by two more independent laboratories in France and Sweden, which confirmed the presence of poison from the Novichok group in the body of politician Alexei Navalny. Arne Collatz, a spokesman for Germany’s Defence Ministry said the data had been provided to the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

“This international organization, of which Russia is also a member, has a treaty-based mandate to oversee and enforce the ban on the use, production, storage as well as research into chemical weapons.”

The OPCW report, published 8 October, also supports the German conclusions. The OPCW report can be found here. Furthermore, on September 11, Berlin’s Justice Ministry approved a request from Moscow for legal assistance in the investigation and information on Navalny’s state of health, “subject to his consent.” The European Union condemned the poisoning of Alexei Navalny in the strongest possible terms. Read similar disinformation messages alleging that the West has an interest in the death of Navalny, that only traces of alcohol and caffeine were found in Navalny's blood, that the West will falsely accuse Russia of poisoning Navalny, as with Skripal and Litvinenko.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

    Why do you not like our audio?

    it will help us to improve it

      Your opinion matters!

      Data Protection Information *

        Subscribe to the Disinfo Review

        Your weekly update on pro-Kremlin disinformation

        Data Protection Information *

        The Disinformation Review is sent through Mailchimp.com. See Mailchimp’s privacy policy and find out more on how EEAS protects your personal data.

        🎵 Playlist