DISINFO: No evidence Navalny was poisoned; Washington and Brussels want sanctions
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: oroszhirek.hu (archived)*
  • Date of publication: September 06, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Hungarian
  • Reported in: Issue 210
  • Countries / regions discussed: Germany, US, Russia
Tags:
novichok Alexei Navalny

DISINFO: No evidence Navalny was poisoned; Washington and Brussels want sanctions

SUMMARY

Poisoning Alexey Navalny could have been in nobody’s interest but Washington’s. The US does not like the fact that it cannot compete with Russian natural gas in Europe, and the German federal government and the CDU were unequivocally supporting the Nord Stream 2 project. The US failed to solve this via political pressure, so this had to be followed by the well-known sanctions policy with a good dose of Russophobia. There is no evidence that Navalny was poisoned, but this is reported as a fact by Western media from the first day. Russia was condemned by all US allies from the European Commission to NATO. Washington and Brussels want sanctions, and “surprisingly” the target might be the Nord Stream 2.

RESPONSE

An example of pro-Kremlin approach to blame every measure taken against Russia's actions on "Russophobia." A prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny fell ill during a flight and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where doctors said he was in a coma and they were trying to save his life. Since then he has been transferred to Berlin and is receiving treatment at Berlin's Charite Hospital. The German federal government said that toxicological tests provided “unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group” in the blood samples of Alexei Navalny. The European Union condemned poisoning of Alexei Navalny in the strongest possible terms. The poisoning was proven by a German military lab, which noted that the Russian opposition figure was poisoned with a variant of Novichok, a banned military-grade nerve agent. After the evidence came to light, German politicians said that unless Russia cooperates on an investigation launched into Navalny's case, they might be forced to "rethink" Nord Stream 2. No final decision has been made by the German federal government. The EU condemned in the strongest possible terms the assassination attempt on Alexei Navalny. According to the EU:

The use of chemical weapons is completely unacceptable under any circumstances, constitutes a serious breach of international law and international human rights standards. The European Union calls for a joint international response and reserves the right to take appropriate actions, including through restrictive measures.

US already has the power to sanction companies working on the pipeline, so Washington does not need a pretext.

Embed

Related disinfo cases

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

    Your opinion matters!

    Data Protection Information *

      Subscribe to the Disinfo Review

      Your weekly update on pro-Kremlin disinformation

      Data Protection Information *

      The Disinformation Review is sent through Mailchimp.com. See Mailchimp’s privacy policy and find out more on how EEAS protects your personal data.