Disinfo: Many questions to be answered on Navalny blood tests in Berlin

Summary

In the blood tests, Charité [hospital in Berlin, where Navlany is treated] finds signs of cholinesterase inhibitors, a group of drugs used in fertilizers, medicines, insect sprays, but also warfare agents. The only possible conclusion is that Putin has poisoned Navalny. The Russian tests did not discover cholestesterase-inhibitors. […] Now it is a finding against a finding. Statement against statement. The German government supports the Charité doctors and demands an investigation from Russia, knowing full well that demonstrative external pressure on the Russians is always counterproductive. Media are foaming up, a perfect background noise. There are questions to be answered: Who had access to the patient Navalny after he landed [in Berlin]? Who was in the Bundeswehr transport? Who had access to him in the clinic? In which hands were his samples? Where are the pictures, the surveillance camera from the clinic? With all due respect, this is not the first case of the Charité acting as a contract clinic for special patients with geopolitical implications. Charité patient Viktor Yushchenko was examined here in 2004. Dioxin poisoning was detected in him. The diagnosis was a decisive factor in his election. Yushchenko became Ukrainian President. And thus he had all the levers in his hand to stifle the investigation of his own poisoning.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory about the poisoning of anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny presented as a series of rhetorical and leading questions, suggesting manipulation of the test results. The doctors of the Berlin Charité Hospital announced that initial findings point to poisoning of the Kremlin critic Navalny. The official Charité-statement reads:

"Following his admission, Mr. Navalny underwent extensive examination by a team of Charité physicians. Clinical findings indicate poisoning with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. The specific substance involved remains unknown, and a further series of comprehensive testing has been initiated. The effect of the poison – namely, the inhibition of cholinesterase in the body – was confirmed by multiple tests in independent laboratories."

Navalny was treated in a hospital in Omsk, but was later transferred to the Berlin Charité hospital. Only after hours of back and forth did the physicians in Omsk drop their objections to a transport to Germany. The Omsk health officials claimed Navalny had tested negative for cholinesterase inhibitors. During his campaign for the presidency in 2004, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko became seriously ill from dioxin poisoning in an apparent assassination attempt. By December 2004, doctors had confirmed that dioxin was behind Yushchenko's ailment. The RT report draws a parallel with the poisoning of the former president of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, who is believed to have ingested a concentrated dose of dioxin. Contrary to the claims of the disinformation message, there is little doubt that the former president of Ukraine was poisoned, however the investigation into the circumstances has not been completed. Read more on MythDetector. See related disinformation messages blaming the West for Navalny's condition, and alleging that only alcohol and caffeine was found in Navalny blood.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 209
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28/08/2020
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Germany, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Alexei Navalny, Conspiracy theory
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Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine. The headline of the article misinterprets the news itself. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the current ceasefire had changed the objectives of Operation Allied Forces, while he presented a new commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

"There will be more provocations from pro-Russian militants, so both the command and the SOF personnel should work harder to prevent them and take preventative measures."

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Disproof

An attempt by pro-Kremlin media to try to undermine Ukraine's statehood ahead of its most patriotic days of the year: 23 August is National Flag Day, followed the next day by Ukraine's Independence Day. The published story is just not true. The statement in the media was denied by the local authorities in Kyiv. The Mayor of the capital, Vitaliy Klitschko denied reports that Ukraine's largest flag has been allegedly damaged, noting that the flag, like the flagpole on which it is flown, is in excellent condition:

Work should be carried out regularly to check the condition of the flagpole and the flagpole's engineering structure. Today, for the first time since the opening of the memorial, such work was carried out. So the flag is undamaged, the flagpole is in excellent condition. The main flag proudly flies over Kyiv.

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Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the war in Ukraine, claiming that Ukraine refuses to implement the Minsk agreements. The office of the President of Ukraine confirmed in a statement that the meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format states on 28 August will not take place:

"The meeting of advisers to the leaders of the states-participants of the Normandy format, which was to take place on 28 August in Paris, is postponed in connection with the business trip of the adviser to the President of France Emmanuel Bonn."

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