MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/. Russian opposition blogger Alexei Navalny could have been exposed to a nerve agent of the Novichok family only in the Berlin-based Charite clinic, where he is receiving treatment, and allegations about Russia’s involvement run counter to common sense, a Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.
"Once they have found something linked with Novichok, most likely, he was exposed to it in this clinic," Andrei Lugovoi, a member of the security and anti-corruption committee of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house, told TASS. "A nurse or a doctor could have done that if they really wanted to somehow expose Navalny to a toxic agent. I am sure this is what really happened."
According to the lawmaker, it is absolutely illogical to claim that Navalny was poisoned by Novichok in Russia. "I assess the probability of such a scenario as zero from the point of view of common sense - it is absolutely illogical to poison a man and then send him to Germany so that they could find out he was poisoned," he said. "Should it be done at a state level, a way would have been found to avoid and explain it."
He described the situation as yet another provocation of external forces and a "brilliant story" to discredit the German-Russian relations. He did not rule out that Berlin might have been misled about Navalny’s poisoning. "First of all, we must demand Germany share all the documents it has on this case. The Russian prosecutor general’s office is doing it," Lugovoi stressed.
He also dismissed as unrealistic a possibility of Navalny’s opponents not linked with government agencies getting access to a Novichok-type agent.
Navalny felt sick on August 20 while flying from Tomsk to Moscow and the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. The man was taken to hospital in a state of coma and was connected to a ling ventilator. He was airlifted to the Berlin-based Charite clinic in the morning on August 22. Its doctors said that indicators of poisoning had been found in his body. According to the doctors, the symptoms of poisoning have gradually abated.
On Wednesday, the German government said that German military toxicologists had found that Navalny had been exposed to a nerve agent of the Novichok family. Berlin called on Moscow to clarify the circumstances of the incident and promised to inform the Russian ambassador about the results of Navalny’s samples tests. The German Cabinet’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said that Germany will notify the European Union, NATO and the OPCW of the latest information on Navalny case and will "discuss an appropriate joint response with the partners in the light of the Russian response." However, he did not elaborate on what steps could be taken.
Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Russia was ready for a comprehensive cooperation with Germany in order to clarify the situation around the Russian blogger. He noted that no toxic agent had been identified before Navalny was taken to Berlin. The Russian foreign ministry said that Moscow continued to wait for Germany to respond to the inquiry from the Russian prosecutor general’s office.
The Russia side has repeatedly said it is interested in a thorough investigation of the incident. A source told TASS that Russian forensic experts had found no poisonous or toxic chemicals either in Navalny’s organism or on his belongings. Moreover, during an inquiry the police had found no evidence of intentional infliction of bodily harm to Navalny.