FILE PHOTO: Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny takes part in a rally to mark the 5th anniversary of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov's murder and to protest against proposed amendments to the country's constitution, in Moscow, Russia February
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said tests showed "unequivocally” that Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned by a novichok nerve agent.
Germany will seek a coordinated response against the Kremlin over the incident and wants an urgent explanation from the Russian government about what happened, Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s chief spokesman, said Wednesday in an emailed statement.
"It is a startling course of events that Navalny fell victim to an attack with a chemical nerve agent,” Seibert said. "The government condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms.”
Russia has said that it has seen no evidence so far that Navalny was poisoned and dismissed allegations it might have been involved. The ruble dropped 1.8% against the dollar as investors worried the latest German statement could lead to more sanctions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia hadn’t been officially informed by German authorities of the finding, the state-run Tass news agency reported.
