Last week, I wrote an article about Aleksy Navalny and the likelihood, based on patterns of history and behavior from Russian spy agencies, that he was likely poisoned in an attempted assassination from the FSB as a part of Putin eliminating his opposition. Following a transfer from Siberia to Germany, Zero Hedge reports that Navalny’s test results show signs of poisoning.
The German hospital where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is being treated has announced that the politician and investigative journalist was probably poisoned with a “cholinesterase inhibitor,” though the exact nature of the poison isn’t known.
Tests on Navalny indicate that the Russian anti-corruption campaigner was indeed poisoned, and a “broad analysis” has been launched to try and determine the exact nature of the poison.
Doctors at Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, where Navalny has been treated since being transferred from Siberia on Saturday, said his “clinical findings indicate intoxication by a substance from the cholinesterase inhibitor group.”
“The specific substance has not been identified so far and a further wide-ranging analysis has been initiated. The effect of the toxin, i.e. the cholinesterase inhibition in the organism, has been proven several times and in independent laboratories.”
They said Navalny remains in an artificial coma and is in a serious condition “but there is currently no acute danger to his life.”
Navalny is reportedly in serious, but stable condition, according to a statement Monday from Berlin’s Charite hospital. He was evacuated from Russia on Saturday.
He has been in an artificial coma since Thursday after falling ill on a plane returning to Moscow from Tomsk.
The 44-year-old was in the city meeting local activists and opposition candidates ahead of regional elections set for September. His sudden illness raised suspicions after a string of Kremlin critics fell victim to poisoning in recent years.
According to Sky News, Navalny is being treated with atropine but the doctors said they cannot currently determine whether he will have lasting issues, “especially in the area of the nervous system.” (source)
This is not a surprise. The CIA, as noted, tends to use poisons for mind control or experiments, but the KGB/now FSB uses them for assassinations. Based on the study, as it indicates the poison used is not definitively known, it is possible that, according to the National Institute of Health on the nature of the poison used, it may have been a form of sarin.
I don’t like Navalny, but the question if he was poisoned or not is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The Russian answer that he was just ‘sick’ did not make any sense, and while Germany may have historical disagreements with Russia, one might also remember that Russia and Germany ally frequently before alliances break down and they fight each other- one only needs to recall the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that Hitler and Stalin signed.
The situation is sort of like when Robert Spencer claimed he was poisoned in Iceland by ‘leftists’ when the reality is that his toxicology reports suggested that Spencer had just drank too much alcohol with party drugs and, likely owing to the combination and his health status, he had a non-life threatening reaction. There is nothing wrong with saying this- truth can hurt -but this is the most likely result based on the data available.
The same is with Navalny, for regardless of what one thinks of him, either Navalny was poisoned or he was not, and all evidence indicates that he likely was.