police investigated
Russian exiles poisoned at conference in Berlin?
5/21/2023 1:03 p.m
Two Russian regime critics attend an event in Berlin. A short time later, the women complain of strange symptoms. Were they poisoned? The State Criminal Police Office is investigating.
In Berlin, the State Criminal Police Office is investigating possible signs of poisoning by Russian journalists who took part in a conference held by Russian government critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky in the German capital in April. The facts are being processed by the police state security, said a police spokesman on request, but gave no further details with reference to the ongoing investigations.
According to the Russian portal Agent Stvo two conference participants complained about health problems. One of them, the head of the non-profit organization Free Russia Foundation based in the USA, Natalia Arno, reported on Facebook of “strange symptoms”, “acute pains” in different parts of the body and a feeling of numbness.
Arno wrote that some complaints had already occurred in Berlin. When she was in Prague afterwards, she noticed that the door to her hotel room was open and there was a strange smell in the room. She flew back to the United States the next day, but the symptoms did not subside. She then informed the authorities.
Arno expressed the suspicion that he might have been poisoned with a nerve agent. She said she was questioned by the FBI. Officials also took away clothing and other items that she had with her on her trip for further investigation.
According to “Agentstvo”, the symptoms of the second person affected could have appeared before the conference in April. She went to the Charité in Berlin, where the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny was treated after his Novichok poisoning.