Putin critic Navalny poisoned with Soviet-era nerve agent, German government

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who last month became violently ill on an airplane flight to Moscow, was poisoned with a nerve agent, German government officials say.

The officials said Wednesday that the poison was the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy.

Western leaders are demanding Moscow explain what happened to Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critics.

The Berlin hospital treating the dissident said he remains on a ventilator but his condition is improving, according to the Associated Press. However, the poisoning could have long-term health effects on Navalny.

Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator, fell ill on the Aug. 20 flight to Moscow and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.

He was moved two days later to Berlin’s Charite hospital, where doctors last week said initial tests indicated Navalny had been poisoned, the wire service also reports.