As of: February 23, 2024, 12:01 p.m
By: Jens Kiffmeier
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What happened to Alexei Navalny in the “Polarwolf” prison camp?
Wife Julia believes poisoning with Novichok is possible.
© Evgeny Feldman/Uncredit/dpa
Was Navalny poisoned with Novichok?
After the death of the Kremlin critic, the inventor of the nerve agent supports this theory about the cause of death.
What are the pros?
Moscow – Poisoning or targeted blow to the heart using an old KGB method: A week after the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, the guesswork about the exact cause of death continues.
Because the body has still not been handed over to the family of the deceased, there are many rumors and speculations surrounding the background of the incident.
The relatives themselves assume that he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok - a suspicion that is now supported by the inventor.
Search for cause of death: Novichok inventor believes that Navalny was poisoned
Vil Mirsayanov also does not rule out that Alexei Navalny's death in Russia could have been caused by the nerve agent Novichok.
In high concentrations, the substance would lead to cardiac arrest and could be detected beyond doubt even after death, said the developer.
He was also the one who revealed the existence of the poison to the world public at the time.
Mirsayanov now lives in the USA and gave an interview to the independent Russian news platform
Meduza
from there .
According to Mirsayanov, Novichok poison no longer breaks down in the body after death.
This is known from other poisoning cases.
The fact would explain why the Kremlin has so far refused to allow the mother to see her son's body.
“The body of a poisoned person is dangerous for people without protective equipment,” Mirsanev continued, adding: “If it is true that he was poisoned, it is unlikely that she will hand over his body to his mother.”
After death in the “Polar Wolf” prison camp: Kremlin refuses to release Navalny’s body
Alexei Navalny died on Friday (February 16) in the notorious “Polar Wolf” prison camp.
The death of Russian President Vladimir Putin's adversary caused consternation around the world.
Several Western politicians see the Kremlin chief as responsible and accused him of political murder - especially US President Joe Biden.
However, the exact cause of death is unknown.
The mother was allowed to see her son once, but the authorities continue to refuse to hand over the body.
Poisoned with Novichok: Wife Yulia Navalnaya has already expressed her suspicions
In a first statement distributed on YouTube, Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, expressed the suspicion that her husband could have been killed with the help of Novichok.
The journalist and opposition activist Christo Grozev also assumes this type of killing.
The Kremlin opponent was already poisoned with Novichok on a domestic flight in August 2020 and was only barely saved by treatment in the Berlin Charité.
Even back then, the opposition suspected the Putin regime was the mastermind.
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In fact, Navalny is not the only Russian Novichok victim.
Back in 2018, renegade FSB agent Victor Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with the nerve agent while in exile in Britain.
But as in all suspected cases, no concrete evidence has yet been provided that would prove Kremlin involvement - neither with Skripal nor with Navalny.
Putin regime is stonewalling in the search for the cause of death
The Russian government officially rejects all allegations and remains tight-lipped about all the background information.
Putin spokesman Dimitri Peskov explained succinctly that the judicial authorities are responsible for the investigation and not the Kremlin.
Otherwise, the authorities only report “sudden cardiac arrest”.
The Kremlin critic, it was said, complained of feeling unwell after a morning walk in the prison yard - and then collapsed.
Any help from alerted paramedics came too late, the prison authorities later said, according to the Russian news agency
Tass
.
But there are now many doubts about the official representations.
The timing of the emergency call and the arrival of help do not match.
In addition, anonymous sources from the prison reported that Navalny's body had bruises, which is why some experts do not consider a targeted killing according to an old KGB method to be completely unreasonable, in which Navalny was half-frozen outside in the icy polar air and then shot could have been killed by a targeted blow to the heart.
Novichok or old KGB method: There are many inconsistencies in Navalny's death
But whether with one blow or through Novichok poisoning – the Kremlin has not completely gotten rid of the Navalny problem.
Thousands of people in the country have so far taken to the streets in memory of the opposition activist.
And wife Julia promised at several public appearances after her husband's death that she would continue his political legacy.
It was only on Thursday that she met US President Joe Biden and had him assure her of support in the fight against Putin.
She had previously announced that she would reveal more details about her husband's death in the coming days.
“The name of the person who carried out the murder on behalf of Putin will be published shortly,” she promised in her video speech.
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jkf
)