Germany, France, and UK Missions in OPCW Reject Russia's Accusations on Navalny Case

"Germany strongly rejects the completely unfounded allegations made by the Russian Federation. It also strongly rejects the attempts to discredit other States parties as well as to question the impartiality and professionalism of the Technical Secretariat", Germany's mission said in a statement.

The United States and 44 other countries have sent to Russia through the OPCW a list of questions about the incident with Navalny. Moscow sent a counter request addressed to Germany, France, Sweden and the technical secretariat of the organisation.

Moscow said that Berlin hindered the official probe regarding the Navalny case, as Germany refused to cooperate with Russian investigators.

The UK also joined the suit, slamming 45 countries' questions related to the case.

"The United Kingdom rejects the assertions made by the Russian Federation in Note Verbale No. 44. The United Kingdom understands these assertions as an attempt to deflect Russian state responsibility for the chemical weapons attack on Mr Navalny", the office said in a statement, released on the OPCW website.

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny transported from the Omsk hospital

Go to the mediabank

At the same time, France announced it was not supporting Russia’s request for mutual legal assistance in the Navalny case.

"Moreover, the Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation mentions in its correspondence that a request for mutual assistance in criminal matters was sent to the French authorities. As we have already stated on several occasions… we examined the request and decided not to go through with it. It is above all the responsibility of the Russian Federation to open a credible, transparent inquiry into the criminal offence committed in its territory, against a Russian citizen, using a nerve agent developed by Russia", France’s mission said in a statement on Monday.

In August 2020, Navalny fell ill on a domestic Russian flight. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane made an emergency landing. Based on the results of the tests, the Omsk doctors concluded that Navalny had a metabolic disorder, while no poison substances were found in his blood and urine.

Several days later, Navalny was flown to the Charite hospital in Berlin for further treatment. The German authorities claimed that doctors found traces of a nerve agent of the Novichok type in his system. A number of countries and media outlets speculated that there was evidence of foul play by Moscow. Russia has since denied any involvement in the case, and called Berlin's statements a provocation.