Russian opponent Alexei Navalny on September 29, 2019 in Moscow.

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Dmitri Lovetsky / AP / SIPA

Barely out of the artificial coma in which he was plunged and already questioned?

This is what the Russian police seem to want, who announced on Friday that they wanted to question Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, a victim of poisoning in Germany, according to Berlin.

These accusations are considered anti-Russian and unfounded by Moscow.

The transport department of the Russian Interior Ministry will ask that "Russian investigators can attend the activities of German investigators" with the Russian opponent and "ask him additional questions," he said in a statement.

"Preliminary" investigations

This body is in charge of "preliminary" investigations to determine what could have caused "the hospitalization" of the adversary number 1 of the Kremlin, hospitalized in Germany, following a poisoning suspected on August 20 while he was in Siberia for investigations into government corruption ahead of local elections on September 13.

Russia had already requested that Berlin hand over its entire file on the Russian opponent, in particular the analyzes of a German military laboratory which identified a substance of the type "Novichok", a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union, in the body of Alexey Navalny.

The Russian authorities claim that their analyzes, carried out during the hospitalization of the opponent in Omsk (Siberia), before his transfer to Germany, had not revealed any toxic substance.

They have repeatedly questioned the veracity of German information and accused Berlin of hampering any cooperation.

A "military" substance

Both Americans and Europeans have for their part demanded an explanation from Russia and a thorough investigation, the authorities acting as suspect number 1 because of the "military" nature of the substance used.

Washington even considered that the assassination attempt was probably orchestrated by "senior Russian officials".

So far Moscow considers that there is no clue to suggest a crime.

The European Union is threatening to impose sanctions on Russia, with Germany no longer even ruling out targeting the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said this week that the German government was using the Navalny affair to "discredit Russia on the international stage".

He also ruled that a refusal by Berlin to satisfy Russian requests for access to the German investigation would be considered a "gross and hostile provocation".

A precedent in 2018

Several opponents or opponents of the Kremlin have been poisoned in recent years.

Each time Russia has rejected the accusations against it, while the Western powers have said they have compelling evidence.

The nerve agent Novichok had already been used against the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in 2018 in England.

According to the British authorities, the GRU, the Russian military intelligence, is the main suspect.

This case had already led to sanctions against Russia.

The Kremlin's "bête noire"

Alexei Navalny has established himself as the pet peeve of the Kremlin in recent years by publishing investigations into the corruption of Russian elites and of President Vladimir Putin's entourage.

On the political scene, his organization, the Anti-Corruption Fund, favors local and regional elections to present or support candidates likely to beat those of the ruling United Russia party.

This strategy met with some success in September 2019, especially during the election of the Moscow parliament, and Alexeï Navalny's supporters hope to repeat the experience after polls in around 40 regions on Sunday.

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  • Investigation

  • World

  • Vladimir Poutine

  • Germany

  • Poisoning

  • Russia

  • Berlin