It is not possible to openly impose sanctions in response to the Russian-Belarusian rapprochement, it is too rough and strained. Thus, there was a need for a pretext that was sufficiently weighty to take measures of pressure. The perfect pretext is the poisoning of Navalny, which miraculously took place at the most appropriate moment. Navalny’s personality has become the trigger of sanctions pressure, and his fate is a direct signal to Moscow. It is not a coincidence that the German foreign Ministry issued a statement that the development of the situation with Navalny directly depends on Moscow’s actions. Pressure on Moscow is being exerted by the united front of the leaders of Germany, France, and the United States, primarily by the leadership of the democratic party and its “deep state”.
The case of Navalny is just a pretext for the West to go against Putin and to enforce Russophobia. One does not have to be a genius to realise that an attack on Alexei Navalny harms the Kremlin and benefits Western actors. But that doesn’t matter, because for a long time now Russophobic politicians and media have been lurking for their chance […] . Let’s be honest: the case will probably never be solved. For if “the West” really had reliable evidence of Russia’s involvement, the absurd chains of evidence and logic that already insulted our intelligence in the Skripal case would not be brought forward again. And if “the Kremlin” were to present certain proof pointing to a different mastermind than Moscow, this proof would be denied and discredited in the West.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the poisoning of Navalny, portraying Western governments and institutions as inherently Russophobic and trying to harm Russia. A prominent Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny fell ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow on the 20th of August. Initially hospitalized in Omsk, at the request of his family he was transferred to Charité hospital in Berlin. Clinical findings at the Charité hospital indicated that Navalny was poisoned with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. Subsequent toxicological tests provided unequivocal evidence of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group in the blood samples of Alexei Navalny. Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets frequently present a variety of mutually exclusive versions of what happened to Alexei Navalny. Similar techniques were used to sow doubt about the poisoning of Sergei Skripal with the nerve agent Novichok by GRU agents. Read more similar disinfo cases alleging that the West will falsely accuse Russia of poisoning Navalny, as with Skripal and Litvinenko and that many questions to be answered on Navalny blood tests in Berlin.