Kremlin says no need for investigation into Alexei Navlany falling ill

Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The Kremlin said Tuesday there is currently no need to start a criminal investigation into Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after German physicians said they believe he was poisoned.

German authorities said Monday that Navalny, a harsh critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, was "likely" poisoned when he became ill on a flight last week. He was flown from Russia to Charite Hospital in Berlin on Saturday at the urging of his family and political team.

German doctors are treating Navalny, who remains unconscious, with atropine, the same drug used after the 2018 nerve agent attack in Britain, where former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia Skripal were poisoned.

Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov pushed back on the notion that Navalny was poisoned, rejecting calls for an investigation unless German doctors can determine the chemical that harmed him.

"If the substance is established and if it is established that this is poisoning, then, of course, this will be a cause for investigation," Peskov said. "Medics are addressing this matter, first Russian doctors and then German doctors. They are conducting phase one of this investigation, trying to find out what has caused the condition the patient is in now. So far, regrettably, to no avail."

Peskov said the German clinic has not found any new information about Navalny's condition, saying that the low cholinesterase found in Navalny could have happened a number of ways.

"Cholinesterase levels may drop due to various reasons," Peskov said. "It is very important to identify what triggered the cholinesterase drop. And neither our nor German medics are so far able to say why this happened, at least, this is what follows from the German medics' statement. Regrettably, the substance has not been identified, samples do not show it."

Peskov said he was puzzled by what he called German doctors' "hurry" to claim poisoning as the reason for Navalny's condition.

"These theories were looked into by our doctors but it is wrong to speak about only one theory at this point," Peskov said.