translated from Spanish: Two laboratories in France and Sweden confirm that Russian opposition leader was poisoned with nerve agent

Specialist laboratories in France and Sweden confirmed that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent developed in the defunct Soviet Union, the German government said Monday. A German military laboratory had previously detected the substance in its samples. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had also received samples and was working to analyze them in its reference laboratories. Navalny, Russia’s most visible opponent, Vladimir Putin, was air evacuated to Germany two days after 20 August on an internal flight in Russia. Berlin has called on Russia to investigate the case. The Kremlin has responded with outrage to the requests of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders that Russia answer questions in the case, rejecting any official involvement and accusing the West of trying to defame Moscow.The Russian government has accused Germany of slow response to Russian requests for help investigating the case, something Berlin denies. Navalny spent more than a week in an induced coma while being treated with an antidote, before hospital sources said a week ago that his condition had improved enough to get him out of the coma. It was unclear when the Berlin hospital in Charite would give its next update on the patient’s condition.

Original source in Spanish