Extract from ABC News
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was "without doubt" poisoned by Novichok nerve agent, the German Government says.
Key points:
- Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny fell seriously ill on August 20 during a flight from Siberia to Moscow
- Russian doctors initially said there was no evidence of poisoning, but German tests say he was poisoned
- Mr Navalny remains in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital
Toxicology tests of blood samples from Mr Navalny conducted at a German military laboratory produced "unequivocal evidence" that he was poisoned with Novichok, senior government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
The Government said that testing by a German military laboratory showed "proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia must answer "difficult questions" about the attack.
"This is disturbing information about the attempted murder through poisoning against a leading Russian opposition figure," Ms Merkel said.
A Kremlin spokesman said Russia wants a full exchange of data from Germany and is currently unable to give a proper response to the claims.
Mr Navalny, 44, fell ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow on August 20 and has been treated at Berlin's Charite hospital after being airlifted from a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk.
Mr Seibert said Mr Navalny's wife Yulia and the attending doctors had been informed of the test results.
The Charite hospital said the symptoms of nerve agent poisoning were receding in Mr Navalny but it expects he will face a "long period of illness".
He remains in a serious condition in the hospital's intensive care unit and is connected to a ventilator.
During initial treatment at a hospital in Omsk, Russian doctors had diagnosed Mr Navalny with a metabolic disease that may have been caused by low blood sugar.
Alexander Murakhovsky, the head doctor at the hospital, said traces of industrial chemical substances had been found on his clothes and fingers and that doctors did not believe he had been poisoned.
Navalny's time as Putin's biggest rival
Mr Navalny has been the biggest thorn in the Kremlin's side for more than a decade, exposing what he says is high-level graft while mobilising crowds of young protesters.
He has been repeatedly detained for organising public meetings and rallies and sued over his investigations into corruption.
Last year Mr Navalny was hospitalised for a "severe allergic reaction" while in prison.
He was also barred from running in a presidential election in 2018.
Novichok link to Skripal spy case in UK
The name Novichok means "newcomer", and it is used for a family of highly toxic nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and 1980s.
The deadly group of nerve agents have a composition slightly different from the better known poison gases VX and sarin.
Britain says Russian agents used Novichok to poison former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury in 2018.
Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack, which the Skripals survived.
Two members of the public fell ill from the same nerve agent allegedly used in the Skripals poisoning, after Charlie Rowley found a perfume bottle containing Novichok and unwittingly gave it to his partner Dawn Sturgess.
Ms Sturgess died from the poisoning while Mr Rowley became severely ill.
On Wednesday British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said he was "deeply concerned" Mr Navalny had been poisoned by Novichok.
"The Russian Government has a clear case to answer and we will work closely with our international partners to see the perpetrators held to account," he tweeted.
ABC/wires
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