Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny wants Russia to turn over the clothes he was wearing the day he is thought to have been poisoned.
Navalny, who has been recovering at a hospital in Germany after suddenly falling ill during an Aug. 20 flight in Siberia, is believed to have been poisoned with the Soviet/Russian nerve agent Novichok, according to German officials.
The anti-corruption crusader’s aides have said that German investigators found traces of the potent substance on one of the water bottles he drank prior to the flight. One of Navalny’s colleagues, Georgy Alburov, told CNN that while Novichok was found on the water bottle, it might not have been the exact object used to poison him. In a Monday statement, Navalny said he wanted Russian officials to return his clothing because it might contain evidence.
“I’m interested in one thing now: my clothes. That is, the clothes I was wearing on the day of the poisoning, August 20. 30 days of ‘pre-investigation check’ were used to hide this vital piece of evidence,” the 44-year-old activist said.
“Before they allowed me to go to Germany, they took all my clothes off and I was sent there completely naked. Taking into account the fact that Novichok was found on my body, and a contact method of poisoning is very likely, my clothes are very important material evidence,” Navalny added.
Novichok was the same nerve agent believed to have been used by Russian hit men in the attempted assassination of former Soviet double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018.
Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critics, posted a photo of himself walking on Saturday and said that his path to recovery is “clear,” although it will likely be lengthy.
“There are many problems yet to be solved but amazing doctors from the Charite hospital have solved the main one,” he said in a weekend Instagram post, referencing the Berlin hospital where he is being treated. “They turned me from a ‘technically alive human being’ into someone who has high chances to become … a man who can quickly scroll Instagram and understands without thinking where to put his likes.”
U.S. and European officials have called for Russia to investigate the incident. Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning.
