Putin: Navalny poisoned himself with Novichok gas

Navalny and his wife, Julia, are in hospital in Berlin.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his fierce opponent Alexei Navalny may have poisoned himself with Novichok gas. Putin's allegations come at a time when the fierce critic of the Kremlin was discharged from the hospital in Germany last Tuesday.

Media reported that Putin made the allegations while speaking to French President Emmanuel Macron on the phone.

The French newspaper "Le Monde", citing sources, said that the Russian leader described Navalny as "a troublemaker on the Internet and claimed illness in the past."

The Kremlin claims that the report by poisoning it is inaccurate.

Navalny’s reaction was mixed with a sense of black humor to what was reported by "Le Monde" of Putin's allegations.

He joked on "Instagram" that Putin saw through his "cunning plan" that "I die in Omsk hospital and end up in the Omsk morgue, and then they can prove the cause of my death that he lived long enough."

He adds sarcastically, “Yes, I cooked Novichok in my kitchen, took a snack from him on the plane, and then fell into a coma, but Putin outdid me, he could not be overcome with intelligence, and the truth was that I lay like a fool in a coma for 18 days, but I did not I achieve my goal ».

Macron appeared unconvinced by Putin's claim, telling the United Nations on Tuesday that Russia needed to provide a "prompt and flawless" explanation, and saying that the use of a chemical weapon was prohibited "a red line."

Navalny, the Russian leader's biggest domestic rival, collapsed during a trip through Siberia on August 20, and spent two days in a hospital in Omsk, western Siberia, before being transferred to Germany, and was discharged on Tuesday from the Charité Medical Center in Berlin after 32 days of treatment, during which he remained on Two weeks in a medical coma.

Doctors say that while Navalny, 44, may make a full recovery, it is too early to measure any long-term effects of his "acute toxicity".

He wrote on the "Instagram" website yesterday that he could not hold the pen or throw the ball with his left hand.

Germany says it has conclusive evidence that Navalny was targeted by Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve gas used to try to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury, Britain in 2018. Russia says there is no evidence that Navalny was poisoned with this gas.

Although the Kremlin denies that it ever produced Novichok, many scholars have admitted to participating in state-supported programs for its development.

The chemist who revealed his development of this gas, Phil Mirzayanov, apologized to Mr. Navalny.

"I participated in this criminal act, I developed this substance with which Navalny was poisoned," Mirzayanov, who now lives in the United States, told the Internet channel "Dozehd" on Saturday.

Pro-Kremlin figures have offered a bewildering array of explanations for Navalny's collapse, ranging from high or low blood sugar to dieting excess.

"It is clear that the Russian authorities have one goal: to broadcast different theories and hope to believe one of them," Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmisch, said.

She added that he would recover in Germany before returning to Russia and continuing his efforts to topple Putin.

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