German clinic confirms Russian opposition politician Navalny was poisoned

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been poisoned, Novaya Gazeta was told by the German clinic Charite where the opposition leader was sent yesterday for treatment.

“Navalny is still in an artificial coma, but at the moment there is no serious threat to his life. Clinical studies show that there was intoxication with cholinesterase inhibitors, the specific substance is currently unknown,” the clinic said, specifying that a poison has been having a strong effect on his body, as proven by independent analyses.

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Doctors say Navalny is now being treated with atropine, but what the outcome of the attack will be is not yet clear, since poisoning can affect the functioning of the nervous system.

Cholinesterase inhibitors are used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and are also found in some naturally occurring poisons (such as the venom of some snakes).

These substances are powerful neurotoxins and are found in several types of chemical weapons – sarin gas and agent VX (with which Kim Jong-un’s brother was killed in 2017).

The nerve agent Novichok, which poisoned a former GRU officer Sergei Skripal, also belongs to the group of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

On the morning of August 20, Alexei Navalny was hospitalized from the Omsk airport with symptoms of severe poisoning. 

After an examination, Omsk doctors stated that they did not find any poisons in the politician’s blood, but at the same time they could not make an accurate diagnosis.

 Relatives and friends of the politician managed to get him transported to Germany, where doctors are observing him now.