Russia accuses Germany of fabricating Navalny poisoning story

The Russian delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) accused Germany of fabricating the story of Russian dissent Alexei Navalny being poisoned with the chemical weapon Novichok.

The Russian delegation described the matter as a "fake story initially launched by Germany" as part of a "mass disinformation campaign," according to a statement issued for the opening of an OPCW session on Monday.

Russian health authorities have said they found no hard evidence that Navalny, arguably the fiercest domestic critic of long-time President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned with Novichok on a trip to Siberia in August.

Navalny, 44, fell violently ill on domestic flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk on August 20 and was hospitalized in Russia for two days before being medically evacuated to Berlin.

Soviet-developed agent

Laboratories in EU member states Germany, France and Sweden have determined that Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the Soviet-developed Novichok family of toxic nerve agents.

Dismissing such findings, Russia's OPCW delegation accused Germany of exploiting the case to "exert political and sanction pressure on the Russian Federation."

In a separate statement, the German delegation specified that a nerve agent was used in Russia against Navalny in an incident that "threatens the integrity of the CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention] and our common security."

"Germany strongly believes that there is no place for chemical weapons in the 21st century," the German delegation said.