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Alexej Navalny at the Charité (with his family)
Photo: HANDOUT / AFP
Swedish chemical weapons experts are certain that the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok.
"We can clearly confirm that Mr Navalny's sample contained a neurotoxin from the Novichok group," said Åsa Scott from the Swedish defense research institute FOI to SPIEGEL.
Germany had the facility in Umeå in northern Sweden
A blood sample was sent to Navalny after a German army laboratory had previously found the poison in the body of the Russian opposition politician.
According to the German government, a French institute has also confirmed the result.
"Neurotoxins from the Novitschok group are extremely toxic," said Scott, who heads the FOI's department for chemical, biological and radioactive substances, to SPIEGEL.
"A drop can kill."
The scientist did not provide any more precise information about the Novitschok variant found in Navalny.
The research institute FOI is subordinate to the Swedish Ministry of Defense.
In 2013, experts from the facility were involved in a UN investigation into the use of poison gas in the Syrian Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, and said they were able to confirm that sarin was used in the attack.
"I missed you"
Alexei Navalny
The Russian opposition politician Navalny was poisoned during an election campaign tour in Siberia.
He collapsed on a domestic flight on August 20, was first hospitalized in Russia and was then transferred to Berlin Charité for further treatment.
Navalny's poisoning led to serious diplomatic tensions between Berlin and Moscow.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) spoke of an "attempted poisoning" and asked Russia to clarify.
Recently, Nawalny's condition had improved significantly.
On Tuesday he reported back with a photo from the hospital bed that he posted on Instagram.
The Kremlin critic wrote: "Hello, this is Navalny. I missed you."
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