Russian embassy in US rejects allegations of poisoning Navalny

The Russian embassy in the United States has commented on State Department statements alleging that Russian intelligence services were involved in the poisoning of politician Alexei Navalny*. These claims have no evidence message embassy press office.

A statement released by the US State Department alleges that in 2020 an attempt was made to “assassinate opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a nerve agent,” writes Interfax.

We drew attention to the latest allegations by the State Department related to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Russian special services against Navalny. The statements about the poisoning of the “blogger” are absolutely unsubstantiated,” the embassy said in a statement.

They noted that Navalny’s criminal case is not politically motivated, and the politician is serving his sentence “on the basis of a court decision made in accordance with Russian law.”

The embassy also called false allegations that the Russian Federation possesses chemical weapons. In 2017, the national stockpiles of chemical warfare agents were eliminated, which was officially confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

“In turn, it is the United States that is the only country that has not yet got rid of himarsenal. We urge Washington to stop evading fulfillment of its international legal obligations, and also not to interfere in domestic Russian affairs, ”the embassy added.

On August 20, 2020, Navalny became ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. He was hospitalized in Omsk, and then, in a coma, was transported to Germany for treatment. The Bundeswehr laboratory found traces of the Novichok poisonous warfare agent in his blood, which was later confirmed by European laboratories certified by the OPCW. The United States and European countries blamed the alleged poisoning of Navalny on the Russian authorities. The Russian side denies the accusation and demands to provide the results of Navalny’s tests, but so far they have not received them. Russian experts found no traces of poisoning in Navalny’s blood.

On October 6 last year, the United States and 44 other countries, through the OPCW, submitted questions to Russian representatives that relate to the alleged poisoning of Navalny. The Chemical Weapons Convention required Russia to provide its response within 10 days. The State Department expressed concern over Moscow’s “lack of transparency and cooperation” in the case.

*included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring