NEWS

They are investigating possible poisoning of Russian dissidents in Berlin


Natalia Arno He began to feel muscle pain and numbness in his limbs. He had just flown from Berlin to Prague and popped his first “Twink” during the flight. Director of the NGO Free Russia Foundation in the United States, where she lived 10 years after fleeing Russia, she was in Europe to attend various events organized by dissidents and returned to her hotel to rest, but upon arrival became aware of her presence. The room signs of someone’s presence and feared for their life. Then he decided to take the first plane to the United States, after reporting what had happened to the German police. Once it landed, the FBI opened its own investigation into the matter “for possible poisoning by a nerve agent created by an intelligence agency.”

These same symptoms were those presented by a Russian journalist, who preferred to remain anonymous, upon entering the emergency unit of the Charité hospital in the German capital. Persecuted in Russia for publishing information critical of Putin, she has taken refuge in Germany where she believes she has been found. German police are investigating two cases of poisoning, as reported by the newspaper “Welt”, citing the Russian media “Agentstvo”. The poisonings would have occurred around a meeting of Russian dissidents organized by businessman and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which took place on April 29-30.

The German authorities are contacting the rest of the attendees to confirm if there are more similar cases, but these are people whose exact location is not easy to locate. The symptoms displayed are consistent with those caused by the Novichok agent, previously used by Russian intelligence abroad and which is solid at room temperature, but can also be administered as a fine powder or liquid to be dissolved in any drink. Even in aerosol form.

See also  The difficult journey of a Jew in Nazi Berlin

It is a weapon more deadly than sarin, developed at the State Chemical Research Institute GosNIIOKhT by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993 and also produced in Iran. Its first known use was against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK, in 2018, and the second was the poisoning of opponent Alexei Navalny, in 2020. Once in contact with the human body, it produces strong muscle spasms that can lead to cardiac arrest and fluid buildup in the lungs. , which leads to death. The fact that it continues to be used in Germany, pending investigation confirming the facts, speaks of security flaws in German counterintelligence.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button