Russian Ambassador summoned to Foreign Office over Alexei Navalny poisoning

7 September 2020, 17:04 | Updated: 7 September 2020, 17:24

Alexei Navalny fell ill on a flight to Moscow and had been in an induced coma since 22 August
Alexei Navalny fell ill on a flight to Moscow and had been in an induced coma since 22 August. Picture: PA

By Megan White

The Russian Ambassador to the UK has been summoned to the Foreign Office over the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

In a statement, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the Government had "deep concern" over Mr Navalny's poisoning, which is believed to have been carried out using Novichok.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said it was "completely unacceptable that a banned chemical weapon has been used and Russia must hold a full, transparent investigation."

The Kremlin critic, 44, fell ill on a flight to Moscow and had been in an induced coma since 22 August.

But earlier on Monday, it was revealed he was out of the coma and "responding to speech" in a Berlin hospital.

Mr Raab said he was "relieved" that Mr Navalny's condition had improved.

He tweeted: "Today the UK summoned Russia's Ambassador to the UK to register deep concern about the poisoning of Alexey @navalny. It's completely unacceptable that a banned chemical weapon has been used and Russia must hold a full, transparent investigation.

"Relieved to hear that Alexei Navalny has been taken out of the medically induced coma. I hope his condition continues to improve."

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “Today the Russian Ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

"The UK Government registered its deep concern with the Russian Government about the poisoning of Alexey Navalny with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.

"Russia will lie and lie and lie" - MP on Alexei Navalny poisoning

“The Foreign Secretary has made it clear that it is absolutely unacceptable that a banned chemical weapon has been used, and that violence has again been directed against a leading Russian opposition figure.

"There is a case here for Russia to answer. This took place on Russian soil, against a Russian citizen.

"They have international obligations to uphold. This is nothing short of an attack against the rules based international system which keeps our societies safe.

“Russia needs to conduct a full, transparent criminal investigation into Mr Navalny’s poisoning. We will work with our partners, including through action in the OPCW, to hold the perpetrators to account.”

Russia has denied that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning Mr Navalny.

But there is increasing pressure for Mr Putin to explain how his critic fell seriously ill, allegedly with the same chemical weapon used against Sergei Skripal, the Russian former double agent targeted in Wiltshire in 2018.

Berlin has threatened to rethink the fate of a German-Russian gas pipeline project if Moscow does not support an investigation, and Mr Raab has been in contact with his German counterpart Heiko Maas.

In response to the Skripal attack, Boris Johnson, as foreign secretary, helped corral a wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats across the EU and US after Britain told 23 envoys to leave.

Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia were two of five people exposed to the substance, both spending weeks in hospital recovering.

But Dawn Sturgess, 44, of Amesbury, Wiltshire, died in July that year after coming into contact with a perfume bottle thought to originally contain the poison, while her partner, Charlie Rowley, spent nearly three weeks in hospital.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Starmer has vowed to resurrect Boris Johnson's 'Levelling Up' policy

Failure to ‘level up’ Britain would be ‘catastrophic’, Wes Streeting admits, as Starmer vows to resurrect key Johnson policy

Border Force staff will walk out from April 11

Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport to stage four-day strike

Stephen Bear was ordered to pay Ms Harrison £5,000.

Disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear ordered to pay £27,000 over revenge porn conviction or face nine months in jail

Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX founder Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for crypto fraud

Exclusive
Covid no excuse for death of Finley Boden who was murdered by drug-addled parents, child protection chief says

Covid no excuse for death of Finley Boden who was murdered by drug-addled parents, child protection chief says

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

France Valentino

Former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele named Valentino creative director

Know your limits this summer, Brits have been warned

‘Know your limits’: Brits heading to the Euros this summer warned against drinking ‘too much German beer’

Russia Shooting

Russia arrests another suspect in concert hall attack that killed 143

Sam Bankman-Fried has been jailed for 25 years for a $8bn crypto fraud

'Crypto King' Sam Bankman-Fried jailed for 25 years for stealing billions of dollars from his customers

Michael Gove has been urged to 'get on with' passing the rental reforms

Ministers accused of making 'major concessions to landlords' after renters reforms 'watered down'

Supermarket opening times for Easter 2024: Trading hour revealed for Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi

Supermarket opening times for Easter 2024: Trading hours revealed for Sainsbury's, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi

It is believed the litter picking tool was mistaken for a firearm, Northumbria Police said

Schools locked down by police after litter picker mistaken for firearm

Lewes prison

Medical incident declared at Lewes prison after several inmates hospitalised with food poisoning

Sandro Tonali

Newcastle United star charged with breaching FA gambling rules 50 times

The protesters staged a bike collision to gain entrance into the department

Pro-Palestine protestors chant 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' as they occupy British Ministry