Samples taken from Russian opposition figure shows presence of Soviet-era nerve agent —German Govt

The government of Germany has revealed that the samples taken from prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny showed the presence of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement on Wednesday that testing by a special German military laboratory had shown “proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group”.

“It is a dismaying event that Alexey Navalny was the victim of an attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia,” Seibert said. “The German government condemns this attack in the strongest terms. The Russian government is urgently requested to provide clarifications over the incident.”

READ ALSO: Health condition of poisoned Russian opposition leader ‘very worrying’ —Activist

Seibert also revealed in the statement that the Soviet-era chemical weapon, was the nerve-agent used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom about two years ago.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had earlier called on Russia to fully investigate the Kremlin critic’s suspected poisoning saying those responsible “must be identified and held accountable“.

“In view of the prominent role of Mr Navalny in the political opposition in Russia, the authorities there are now urgently called upon to investigate this act down to the last detail – and in full transparency,” she said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

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