MOSCOW: A senior ally of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny said on Wednesday he believed only President Vladimir Putin could have authorised the suspected poisoning of the outspoken Kremlin critic.
The Kremlin has dismissed as “hot air” and untrue any suggestion Putin was somehow involved in Navalny falling ill. It also says it remains unclear if Navalny was actually poisoned.
Navalny, 44, was airlifted to Germany on Saturday after collapsing on a plane while flying back to Moscow from Siberia. Without providing evidence, Ivan Zhdanov, the head of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), said “it is clear that only Putin personally could have sanctioned Navalny’s poisoning”.
“He hates what the FBK does too much, exposing him and his entourage,” he said. German doctors treating him said that medical examinations indicated poisoning with some kind of cholinesterase inhibitor.–Agencies
