Germany investigating possible poisoning of Putin’s critics in Berlin
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Germany is investigating the possible poisoning in Berlin of two of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s critics, German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported on May 22.
The newspaper reported that two activists who had taken part in a conference organized by exiled Russian businessman and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky on April 29-30 later reported symptoms of poisoning.
German police confirmed they were investigating these incidents but did not mention Russia’s alleged involvement.
The head of the Free Russia Foundation, Natalia Arno, said she had been one of the victims of the alleged poisoning.
“I suspect that I was poisoned during a recent trip to Europe, possibly with some kind of nerve agent, and one (or even more) Western intelligence agencies are investigating,” she wrote on Facebook.
Arno said she had developed “strange symptoms” after smelling an unusual odor in her hotel room in a European city.
Russian news outlet Agentstvo further reported that another unidentified journalist who had left Russia had similar symptoms on the days of the conference and was treated at the Charité hospital in Berlin – where suspected victims of Russian poisonings have previously been treated.
Russian authorities have repeatedly been suspected of poisoning Putin regime critics both inside the country and abroad. According to the UK government, Russia’s military intelligence service or GRU in 2018 poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Novichok nerve agent in the city of Salisbury in southern England.
Russian FSB special service agents are also suspected to have been behind the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Russia in August 2020, after which he underwent long-term treatment and rehabilitation at the Charité hospital in Berlin.
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