Putin | Common News Update

Jan172021 by adminNo Comments

Poisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny detained after arriving in Moscow

World

Poisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny has been detained by police following his return to Russia.The dissident flew back from Germany where he had been recovering after being exposed to the Soviet-era novichok nerve agent in August. Sky producer Alina Droyshevskaia was on the Sunday flight and said as passengers left the plane: "All of us expect he is going to be arrested... He's ready to sacrifice himself and basically be arrested. His wife is around him right now."Just minutes after the plane's arrival, Russia's prison service confirmed Mr Navalny has been detained. Image: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya on the plane after it landed in Moscow Image: ...

Sep32020 by adminNo Comments

What is novichok, the nerve agent used to poison Putin critic Navalny?

World

Novichok has become the focus of international scrutiny once again after a prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin was found to have been poisoned with the nerve agent.Angela Merkel called it an attempted murder and said the Russian authorities would have to explain themselves. A statement from Berlin's Charite Hospital, which is treating Alexei Navalny, said he remains in a serious condition in intensive care and his breathing is being supported.It added that while symptoms are receding, he is expected to suffer a long period of illness.Mr Navalny appears to have been exposed to the same chemicals as the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 2018. ...

Aug272020 by adminNo Comments

Putin says he could send police to Belarus if necessary

World

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has formed a police reserve force to intervene in Belarus if necessary, but that point has not yet been reached.Speaking on Russian state TV, he said Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko "asked me to set up a certain police reserve" and "I have done so"."We also agreed that it won't be used until the situation gets out of control," he told Rossiya 1TV. Mr Lukashenko's disputed 9 August re-election triggered huge protests.Separately, at least 13 journalists - including a BBC team - were detained in the centre of the capital, Minsk, ahead of a planned opposition protest. The interior ministry said they had been taken to a police station for identity checks, but the BBC's Steve Rosenberg sa...

Aug242020 by adminNo Comments

Tests indicate Putin critic Alexei Navalny was poisoned, German doctors say

World

Doctors treating Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in a German hospital say tests indicate he was poisoned.Medics at the facility in Berlin, where the Putin critic was transferred to from Omsk in Russia's Siberia region on Saturday, said: "The clinical findings indicate intoxication by a substance from the cholinesterase inhibitor group. "The specific substance has not been identified so far and a further wide-ranging analysis has been initiated."The effect of the toxin, i.e. the cholinesterase inhibition in the organism, has been proven several times and in independent laboratories." Image: Mr Navalny is fighting for his life in hospital They said the Russian dissident remains in an artificial coma and is in a serious con...

Aug222020 by adminNo Comments

Putin critic ‘poisoned’ after drinking cup of tea arrives in Germany for treatment

World

A prominent critic of Vladimir Putin has arrived in Germany for medical treatment, amid claims he became seriously ill after drinking a cup of tea laced with poison.Alexei Navalny, who remains in a coma after his condition deteriorated on Thursday, was transported from a Siberian hospital to Berlin on a special medical plane. His flight to Berlin was organised by Cinema For Peace, a Berlin-based charity which supports film-based projects dealing with global humanitarian and environmental issues. ...