Earlier in the day, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny was removed from an artificial coma he was put into after he fell ill on a Russian domestic flight from Tomsk to Moscow on 20 August. After being initially treated in an Omsk hospital, where the plane conducted an emergency landing, Navalny was transferred to Germany’s Charite clinic.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, when speaking live on YouTube channel “Soloviev Live” on Monday, called on Germany to select one speaker who would be responsible for all official comments regarding Alexei Navalny.
“It seems to me that now the German side has real reasons for publishing comments. … I would like to read real data every day. What could be simpler… Choose one doctor, head of a clinic, laboratory, chemist, biologist — one person who will become a speaker on this issue, who will go out to the public every day and tell what is happening, what data, formulas are there”, she said.
Commenting on Navalny’s alleged “poisoning”, Zakharova stated that “there is an absolute feeling that the script was written in advance”.
“The answer has not been given. Neither the official request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, nor do I know any more about the appeals of our Omsk doctors, nor those that Mr. [Leonid] Roshal spoke about. Nothing, zero”, she said.
Zakharova reiterated her demand that Germany must provide data on Moscow’s request for information regarding Navalny.
Earlier in the day, the Charite clinic, where Navalny is undergoing treatment, stated that he was out of the medically-induced coma and his condition had improved, but it was still too early to gauge the potential effects of his “severe poisoning”.
Navalny fell ill on 20 August, flying from Tomsk to Moscow, and initially received treatment in Omsk, where doctors said no traces of poison were found in his system. Two days later, Navalny was transfered to Berlin to continue his treatment.
In the Charite clinic, doctors said they discovered in Navalny’s system traces of substances from a group of cholinesterase inhibitors. Several days later, Berlin announced that the Russian opposition figure had been poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok group.
Germany Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Russia should “take action” with regard to the alleged poisoning of Navalny, asserting that “if no explanations follow from Russia in the coming days, we will have to discuss the response with our partners”.
“We have high hopes for the Russian government to solve this serious crime. If [the Russian government] has nothing to do with the attack, then it is in its own interest to prove it with facts”, Maas said, expressing hope that “the Russians will not make us change our position on Nord Stream 2” amid Navalny’s severe illness.
Moscow has denied claims that Navalny was poisoned, citing a lack of evidence behind the allegations and stressing that no toxic substances were found in his body by Russian doctors.
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Published by Sputnik News
Republished by The 21st Century
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