The Russian Foreign Ministry considers the case of Alexei Navalny, who was previously diagnosed in Germany with intoxication with a poisonous substance from the Novichok group, as “an amateurishly staged performance.” This is stated on the website of the Foreign Ministry.
The diplomats recalled the chronology of events, starting with the deterioration of Navalny's condition. So, they indicated that it was in Russia that his life was saved. “Impeccable coherence of actions was ensured, despite the reports about the” mining “of the airport of the city of Omsk, received from the server located – by some strange coincidence – in Germany,” – said in the published message. The Foreign Ministry was also surprised that Navalny was aware of the false mining immediately after regaining consciousness, despite the lack of official information about this.
Further, the department drew attention to the position of Western countries. “While the blogger was in a hospital on our territory, in the West, a hysterical anti-Russian campaign gained momentum,” the Foreign Ministry said. In addition, the diplomats pointed to great attention to Navalny in Germany, in particular, 14 escort cars and the status of the chancellor's guest. The ministry was surprised at the speed of the analysis, which showed the presence of traces of Novichok – 9 days instead of 14. “Thus, in Germany, under a political order, a chemical-technological revolution was made in the field of a rather complicated binary synthesis of chemical substances,” the Foreign Ministry said Russia.
As a result, the diplomats came to the opinion that “it is primary for the West to find another reason to continue anti-Russian attacks,” and not Navalny's health. It is noted that this is also indicated by the refusal of German law enforcement officers to cooperate with their Russian colleagues. “It is quite natural that the feeling arises that everything that is happening is an amateurishly staged performance, the main idea of which is another sanctioned“ shot ”at Russia,” the conclusion says.
On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he personally asked the Prosecutor General's Office to release Navalny for treatment in Germany, since he had restrictions on leaving due to a criminal case. The head of state also noted that the authorities were not guilty of what had happened.
On October 15, the EU imposed sanctions on six Russians over the situation with Navalny. In particular, the director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Russian president's internal policy department, Andrei Yarin, and others, fell under the restrictions. They are banned from entering the territory of the European Union, and financial assets in European banks are frozen. In addition, sanctions were imposed on the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT).
Navalny's health sharply deteriorated on the morning of August 20 during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. On August 22, the oppositionist was taken to a Berlin clinic. German experts said that traces of a substance from the Novichok group were found in his body. At the same time, Russian doctors did not find any poisons in Navalny's body.
