*sigh* Just another day in paradise. Kennedy, Hoffa, there's no use dwelling on it.

Posted by: Just Me | Sep 2 2020 15:45 utc | 1

"Russia" must be punished for this. Yes that too, but Northstream 2 must be stopped. MI6 uses it links to BND and Merkel plays along. Somehow german (and dutch) consumers must be made happy to pay extra for the expensive american LNG. All the pipelines from russia to west-europe are a target. I wonder how informed people think about it and how this will reflect in the elections. In The Netherlands we are overrun with stories of Navalny and Belarus and the evil Russians.
So, it's about the Benjamins or it's about the upcoming war, let's hope it is only about the money.

Posted by: gary | Sep 2 2020 15:53 utc | 2

Yes, Yawn and an OMG just how stupid do they think we are were my initial reactions when I read the news on Sputnik a few minutes ago. IMO, it looks like Merkel went fishing for some reason to kill NordStream 2 just prior to its completion and thus justify her action for the domestic audience. My question for b: Will the German public swallow this BigLie if it's indeed used in the manner I suspect?

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 15:57 utc | 3

Problem is that the Russian government refuses to toughen up its own responses to this unending campaign of defamation. This stance clearly emboldens the racist Russophobes who formulate this policy and the majority of the western populace is inevitably infected as well by this unrelenting propaganda.

As Yasha Levine pointed very succinctly, the whole thing has taken the aspect of the old anti-Semitic defamatory campaigns, this time targeting the Russians.

Posted by: Constantine | Sep 2 2020 15:58 utc | 4

Who has the lead in this anti-Russian information operation? The MI6, the CIA or the Germany BND?

Given the level of incompetence I am voting for the CIA but it is a tough choice. Could be MI6. The utter lack of originality is mind boggling. Could they not have invented a new drug.

It is getting to be a bit boring. The timing is so obvious

Posted by: jrkrideau | Sep 2 2020 16:01 utc | 5

My sense is that the Navalny incident, or at least what is made of it, is a reaction to the failure of the U.S. run color revolution attempt in Belarus. "Russia" must be punished for this.

I suspect both these hapless and failed charades, and the North stream obstructions, are the reaction to failed, secret negotiations of the type: "do as we say, stab China in the back, and we'll be nice to you."

Posted by: veto | Sep 2 2020 16:01 utc | 6

Bean counter/accountants are at the heart of the God of Mammon cult.

As such, they have input to the idiocraty. I can picture one of them arguing that empire has a lot invested in the Skripal cover up, it seems to be working, and why can't it be extended to Navalny....just get the right Wag the Dog producer and the public will lap it up.

Think about this. This Novichok BS response to the Navalny debacle is the best Western money can buy....maybe fiat US dollars are overrated.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 2 2020 16:07 utc | 7

Dawn Sturgess is reported to have died of novichok.

Posted by: Paul Cockshott | Sep 2 2020 16:13 utc | 8

BBC news is trumpeting this BS for an hour. They do not care if the story is even plausible. The level of their brazenness and insolence is mind boggling. Pure, naked hostile propaganda.

Posted by: hopehely | Sep 2 2020 16:14 utc | 9

Who needs a "neutral international laboratory" when you can just live stream the testing for everyone to see? Russia needs to step up her game or such lies will keep pouring in.

Posted by: wj2 | Sep 2 2020 16:15 utc | 10

Angela Merkel pulls a Theresa May.

Russia doesn't need to do anything at all, the morons are doing it all to themselves.

So does Germany have a Boris-level "pleasant buffoon" who can step out of a clown-car somewhere and make sure the reigns of power are in safer hands? They don't, do they? :P

I'm not sure what to make of the following (and I'm a bit skeptical of anyone taking ownership of novichok) but found it interesting (it looks like they will update it later): here "'Novichok' Would Have Killed Navalny, Developer of Substance Says" from Sputniknews.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 16:17 utc | 11

That should be "reins" not "reigns" :|

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 16:20 utc | 12

thanks b... this is exactly what i said on this when it first came out - skirpal part 2 or something like that... another day, another bullshit -cia-m16 and friends media turd...

Posted by: james | Sep 2 2020 16:26 utc | 13

The limp, vapid construction of "accusation" of poisoning is clear evidence of the end days for the West. These are the best of the best minds creating fairy tales that John Cleese would consider as plot lines for his comedies.

It had to be Skirpal redux because the group they aim at is the GRU (GU). All hacking and poisoning, don't you know, is done by the GRU. Just ask the 16 Gendered-Mi6 or Khazarian tribe-led CIA.

What a joke the German BND and Merkel government is.

Posted by: Red Ryder | Sep 2 2020 16:27 utc | 14

oh and the media will not be asking the question - ''where are the skripals?'' as that is just too close for comfort for them... they have been advised to ''steer ''clear of that and just concentrate on the bullshite 24-7...

Posted by: james | Sep 2 2020 16:28 utc | 15

Were I a Russian taxpayer, I would be outraged. Not only does our novichok weapon not work on the Skripals, it doesn't work on Navalny. What does this imply for our other tax funded weapons systems? I would be outraged.

Posted by: watyler | Sep 2 2020 16:31 utc | 16

It is virtually impossible to refute the Novichok card now that it has been played. Russia may have samples of Navalny's blood, but it will never be proved to the satisfaction of the Russophobic world that they are authentic. Never mind that simple logic should lead to the conclusion that Russia would never use this substance to remove a high profile opponent. It was never proven to have been used in the Skripal case, yet most of the Western world believes that it was. And would Merkel actually sabotage the Nordstream 2 project over what she must know is a monumentally weird political assassination claim? What does the Deep State have on her?

Posted by: Rob | Sep 2 2020 16:35 utc | 17

Well in not too long I'm sure they won't be able to answer "where is Navalny?" either.

Who is next? Who else among their own does the western anti-intelligence agencies want to remove? Who is embarrassing enough?

Why didn't they use "novichok" on the body double of Epstein? Because he (whoever it was) had to die?

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 16:37 utc | 18

Not sure about Belarus, but Merkel has openly criticised attempts to link Nord Stream II and Navalny;

"I believe that these issues should be viewed separately. I also think that the construction of Nord Stream should be finished..."

https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/684061.html

Posted by: AtaBrit | Sep 2 2020 16:38 utc | 19

I vote for the Nordstream 2 exit strategy by Merkel - counting down...3...2..1 - Merkel cancels NS 2 and blames Putin!

Posted by: Peter Camenzind | Sep 2 2020 16:46 utc | 20

I don't expect any once of honesty from b when it comes to Putine. I always thought b to must on the payroll of FSB. There is unconditional love of b for anything in respect of putine. And for your record, the novoshik poison that never killed anybody killed six month later a poor woman that found and touch the bottle.

Posted by: murgen23 | Sep 2 2020 16:46 utc | 21

The tests Germany allegedly claim prove Navalny was poisoned with Novichok in all likeliness don't exist. They are pure fabrication:

Russian diplomats wait for reply from Germany to prosecutors’ request for data on Navalny

As to the question about who's behind it, I hope it was asked rhetorically, because it is obvious it's the BND. It would be weird for a country of Germany's caliber to give a foreign power's intelligence agency full control of its laboratories.

It's not weird that Germany is behind this PR coup in a context of an "attack" on Belarus. Since the foundation of the Weimar Republic, Germany's Xangri-la has always been Eastern Europe. Sure, in the middle of the path to the promised land, there are other geopolitical issues Germany occupies with, such as its obligations with NATO in North Africa and the Middle East, pandering its post-war West German bourgeoisie (Atlanticists) etc. etc. But its attention and final goal was always Eastern Europe - of which Russia is the greatest prize. This was Bismarck's dream, and therefore also is modern Germany's dream.

Posted by: vk | Sep 2 2020 16:52 utc | 22

gary | Sep 2 2020 15:53 utc | 2

Northstream 2 must be stopped... All the pipelines from russia to west-europe are a target... In The Netherlands we are overrun with stories of Navalny and Belarus and the evil Russians.

Trump/NATO to Europeans: is it safe?

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Sep 2 2020 16:54 utc | 23

Another reason to smear Russia at this time is the upcoming 75th anniversary of the UN and the related General Assembly "debate" which Putin will participate in via a video presented speech. IMO, Putin's decision despite the significance of the occasion is to send a message, and I expect the speech to be "undiplomatic" in that it will remind the world of some truths and facts that have been continually trampled upon.

TASS also provides this recap of Lavrov's recent remarks about Belarus. Also noted is the lack of any official response to Belin's accusations about Navalny.

We've all seen this pattern before in an attempt to reduce Russian credibility before the world--Spout an absolutely baseless Big Lie and let BigLie Media run with it with a reboosting by a high official like Pelosi with the debunked Russiagate when its momentum flags.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 16:56 utc | 24

I smell a rat - an attempt by the US Intelligence/deep state to drive a wedge between Germany and Russia.

Germany has not been behaving exactly like what US wants lately - North Stream 2, allowing Huawei, refusing to criticize China for Covid-19, etc. It is about time to put a leash onto Merkel to show who is the boss.

Posted by: d dan | Sep 2 2020 16:57 utc | 25

True AtaBrit but all bets are off when a politician is willing to eat this much crap in public (and it's not the first time for Merkel). Merkel will be as happy as she has always been to harm Germany, Europe, and the world.

One good thing is that the level of outlandishness forces anyone loyal to these scumbags to also partake in the meal because that's the only way to keep up appearances against the obvious ludicrous nature of their narratives. Every power-hungry politician and every "journalist", every retarded "commentator" and/or troll.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 16:58 utc | 26

>>My sense is that the Navalny incident, or at least what is made of it, is a reaction to the failure of the U.S. run color revolution attempt in Belarus. "Russia" must be punished for this.

Yeah, i think so too. I suspect that this was intelligence operation coordinated beforehand with Navalny in order to coincide with the Color revolution attempt in Belarus and create the proper "climate".

That is, a social terrain shaping operation.

One mistake though. This wasn't simply the US behind the Color Revolution attempt in Belarus. It was Europe too.

>>Why was the German government so eager to get Navalny to Berlin?

Because the German Government is hostile to Russia. It is a veeery big sign of its hostility.

Germany joining the Novichok anglo dramas is a red sign (among other things, such as rejecting european defence force independent from NATO) that it is still a puppet country. To a large extent.

It is still a bit childish directing, with all the emphasis on Novichok that never kills the target (and this time in Russia!) over and over again. They either lack imagination or think that people are stupid.

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 2 2020 17:02 utc | 27

Couldn't they come up with a more believable fairy tale?

Heh, yeah i have the same reaction.
Today I had a good laugh when I saw the news about "Navalny poisoned by Novichok".
Amazingly, inventors seem to be stingy with fantasy. Either amazing stupidity, or amazing laziness to come up with something new.

The question I'm asking is why/for what purpose the Germans are now getting involved in another bizarre 'Novichok spectacle', and whether they voluntarily get involved. Is this related to the completion of the Nord Stream-2, and if so, how.

Posted by: alaff | Sep 2 2020 17:03 utc | 28

The Germans suffered another defeat in Belarus. Where I have heard that before? When will they ever learn?
Surely the Russians have an antidote to this farce and I bet it's called Bagration.

The general population has other concerns at the moment, like keeping a roof over their heads and enough food on the table and are swept up by the propaganda. The surveys show that. I hope the fools running the shit show in the west get don't caught up in their hubris and push this to war. Biden will use this as a club on Trump

Posted by: Tom | Sep 2 2020 17:07 utc | 29

(Overheard by our secret source in the Kremlin)

= What a day! The Americans are really putting the boots to Merkel on Nord Stream, we’ve got demos in Khabarovsk and now Batko’s screwing up. Some days it’s just too much.

– We gotta come up with something to take people’s minds off things, Boss.

= Yeah, but what? No military anniversaries coming up. Do we have any new weapons which we can show?

– Not unless you count the re-done Bear.

= Nah, that won’t work – the Americans will just say it’s obsolete. Why it’s almost as old at their B-52!

– How about a video of the Tsar Bomba?

= Always good to remind the neo-cons that they may have Big Democracy but we’ve got Big Bomb. But I want something else.

– We could do a video of pretty girls singing that they’re Putingirls.

= Didn’t Obama did that? That’s as fake as the reset was.

– Wait Boss! I’ve got it. Let’s poison somebody! That’ll will change the headlines. Sure worked that last few times.

= Hmmmm, sounds good, keep talking.

– We’ll poison that Navalniy guy…

= Who?

– You know, the guy the Americans think you’re obsessed with.

= Isn’t he in France, in a lunatic asylum?

– No, the other guy.

= Oh yeah, I think I remember. OK so we poison him, then what?

– Well, he won’t die of course – our poisons are no good – and, after a day or two we let him go to some NATO country and they’ll say he was poisoned.

= Well, that will certainly change the headlines, let’s do it.

– OK Boss, and while people are obsessed with that, we can swing a few elections in the West.

= Ah yes, gotta remember to talk to Xi and coordinate our efforts. I’m still pissed off that he thinks he can fix a US election. He can do Japan, Australia, Korea and the others. That’s what multipolarism is – you do yours, we do ours.

H/T patrickarmstrong.ca

Posted by: Moe | Sep 2 2020 17:07 utc | 30

When I first read the claim that Navalny was poisoned with a 'Novichok like poison' I literally laughed out loud for about half a minute. I imagined what it must be like to be a 'news' reader for the corporate media in this day and age. Could you imagine having to read that stuff out deadpan? I for one, could never keep a straight face while reading out loud that sort of utter bullshit. Comedy pure and simple.

On another note, I don't know which is more alarming, the utter lack of competence and imagination in the 'intelligence' services or the mind boggling gullibility and stupidity of those that believe it.

Posted by: MarkU | Sep 2 2020 17:10 utc | 31

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 16:56 utc | 25

Yep, that's it, I was trying to figure out why they trot this tripe out again now. It's the UN. Putin is going to be in the public eye again, it is like flicking a switch, out comes the Novichok, or something similar, lest Putin/Russia be seen in a good light. Pathetic. With China it's the Uighers, used to be Tibet, but Uighers are better because they are muslims, no jihadis to speak of in Tibet. Interesting to see Germany take up a UK originated propaganda initiative like Skripal/Novichok too. I wonder if that's why they moved the Skripals to New Zealand, so they could bring Novichok up again without people getting nosy about where they were. They just keep lying and lying and lying and ...

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 2 2020 17:10 utc | 32

Peter Camenzind | Sep 2 2020 16:46 utc | 21, et al.:

If Germany cancels Nord Stream 2 over this, I’ll drink Novichok. (I mean, it’s not worth actually dying over, right?)

More likely, if the U.S. persists, they’ll be pointing fingers at each other in Washington, asking “who lost Germany?”, à la China post-1949.

Most likely, especially if Biden wins, the U.S. quietly climbs down.

Posted by: David G | Sep 2 2020 17:13 utc | 33

It seemed very strange that Navalnys' spokesman tweeted, on 22nd Aug, only two days after the diverted flight, the following:

"The struggle for Alexei's life and health is just beginning, and there is still a lot to go through, but now at least the first step has been taken," Kira_Yarmysh

But how could she possibly know it was 'just the beginning' ? At this point they had zero information on what had caused Navalnys' collapse at all ?

Posted by: Tee | Sep 2 2020 17:17 utc | 34

Rob @18--

"... the Russophobic world..."

How big is this "world" really? IMO, it's a propaganda/narrative construct amplified by BigLie Media most thinking people easily see through and many don't think of at all given the number of challenges faced in everyday life.

This development makes me curious about the nature of talks between Merkel and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi I noted yesterday as they were to discuss the very large development package agreement between China and EU, yet there's very little material available at China's Foreign Ministry unlike the talks in France and Italy. Since it seems the West first slanders Russia then follows with slanders of China, I wonder how much weight the Russia/China Strategic Partnership will have given what's transpired this year.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 17:26 utc | 35

This simply firms the belief I have had for some time. The major intelligence services, especially BND, CIA and MI6 plus the other 'five eyes' no longer work for their own governments, they have been suborned by or subsumed into what I term the International Establishment, those powers behind the scenes that own much of the political and governing classes around the world, especially the Western World, and the their so called Deep or Alt States. It should also not be forgotten that the BND has been in bed with the CIA since its inception and has been caught out in several false flags and other meddlesome activities, like the acquisition of and subsequent use of Crypto AG to plant compromised communications hardware all around the world to facilitate their spying.

Posted by: Peter Charles | Sep 2 2020 17:29 utc | 36

Is Novichok actually a thing, anyway? I duckduckwent a bit and it seems to me that it is just a military hoax that is kept alive for the sake of the occasional redscaring.

Posted by: Miranda | Sep 2 2020 17:29 utc | 37

Even more likely: if Biden wins they have a new "volunteer" for novichok :)

Because they have to double down:
· Hardly no one in the US and the west knew who Skripal was.
· A few in the US and the west knew who Navalny is/was.
· At least some in the US and the west know who Biden is (at least right now but I bet you most still don't).

Maybe they'll continue doubling down all the way to someone like Kanye West? :D

I'm with MarkU and everyone who started laughing. Despite all the proof over the years it's still so difficult to believe they can really be this abysmally stupid that laughter, scorn, and mockery is the only appropriate response. Maybe even a tiny bit of pity.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 17:30 utc | 38

murgen23 | Sep 2 2020 16:46 utc | 22:

Whenever I’m tempted to get too snarky about the Skripal affair et sequelae, I recall Dawn Sturgess, by all appearances a truly innocent victim of these stupid spy games, and Yulia Skripal as well, though she may possibly still be alive.

That doesn’t negate Novichok’s remarkable status as the fearsome chemical agent guaranteed to kill any who touch it in less than 75 years.

Posted by: David G | Sep 2 2020 17:30 utc | 39

Posted by: murgen23 | Sep 2 2020 16:46 utc | 22

You should blame CIA for that not b and then you trust the official statements to say it was Novichok?But we know..everything is good for the anti-Russia campaign that's going on.

Posted by: LuBa | Sep 2 2020 17:31 utc | 40

Rather than Navalny being a tool for Merkel to cancel Nordstream, I think it's more an attempt to play along with the US to show Germany as a "good partner" while still getting cheap Russian gas. Of course, you can never be enough of a "good partner" to the US to keep from getting backstabbed so it's ultimately pointless for Germany to do this...

Posted by: worldblee | Sep 2 2020 17:32 utc | 41

I suggest everyone reads the Israel Shamir piece at the Unz Review. He claims the US response to the Navalny issue is to ban the new Russian COVID-19 vaccine, so that the threat of a low cost solution does not prevent Gates and big Pharma making billions.
https://www.unz.com/ishamir/navalny-poison/

Posted by: Ed in Kanata | Sep 2 2020 17:41 utc | 42

Shirley you can't be serious? Novichok again. Well it worked the last time, it will work again.
I'd like to know the role the doctors at La Charite play. The last public statement sounded like 'a Porton Down' to me: not entirely rolling over but still giving officials enough material to launch their propaganda.So what are they going to say now?

The russians still have samples but remember the olympic games. The Russian athletes had clean samples but the west 'figured out' that the samples had been swapped. I don't know the details of it but there was a weird article about it in der spiegel recently which took the paradoxical position that the main witness was a liar but somehow the general doping claims were still true.

Posted by: tuyzentfloot | Sep 2 2020 17:44 utc | 43

Once again we, the hoi polloi, are thought gormless, thickos, totally gullible (unfortunately too many are or more likely don't give a fuck). Novichok - among, if not the, deadliest of poisons has failed again! To kill, I mean. Isn't death by Novichok supposed to be all but, like, immediate? No lingering, lying on the floor of an airplane loo (or nearby) comatose for some time?

And how coincidental that first the Skripals and now Navalny are "poisoned" with this super dooper deadly poison - only to be in hospital, alive. This time in Germany, under Merkel's eye via, no doubt, the German secret lot.

Now, if the Russians had poisoned Navalny with owt, let alone Novichok (never mind that the formula is available to all and sundry governments or some such), WHY on earth would they have permitted his being shipped out to Germany and to that particular hospital? Highly unlikely.

As with everything else these past few years, we are supposed to believe that the Russians are as devious, as wily as they come AND simultaneously they are inept, stupid, incapable of doing anything without leaving a clearly marked trail to their backdoor....

Nordstream 2 and Belarus - the former I suggested a few days ago; the US pressure on Merkel, a lickspittle of the Anglo-American empire, to cease and desist its completion re Nordstream 2, has been great while the German public overall is for the cheaper piped nat gas and against the shipped expensive US gas (also environmentally bad). This Navalny business, as I wrote earlier gives her wiggle room - especially with the lie (big lie) that it was Novichok as "poisoned" him..

As for Belarus - NATO (i.e. US/UK and yes, I'd go along with the German desire) wants to complete its western Russian borderland grab, thereby completing the western "military wall" of never-ending threat to Russia. And for Russia that really is a no-no. They have been invaded too many times by western countries (including Germany, twice) via those borderlands...too many Russian lives have been destroyed by the greed and incomprehensible big-headedness of the west. The western nations are Mammon-Moloch worshipers, tout court.

Posted by: AnneR | Sep 2 2020 17:50 utc | 44

Telegraphed so loudly that it was embarrassingly obvious. I guess every reader saw this coming but for what it's worth a copy of my post of 24th August:

"According to Charité (German hospital looking after Navalny) "The early clinical findings indicate the presence of a substance pertaining to a group of so-called cholinesterase inhibitors in Navalny's system" (Sputnik News)

(I believe, Scripals were poisoned with Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors which are a sub-class of cholinesterase inhibitors.)"

I am really surprised that the western intelligence services went ahead with this fabrication because wasn't Novichok meant to be extremely dangerous? A single drop would kill thousands, and houses and properties had to be demolished in Salisbury to protect the public? Do Russians have a natural immunity to "Novichok"? (Where is the intelligence services guile and subtlety?)

This tired retread undermines "belief" in Scripals story and in the Litvinenko case. All the western intelligence services have done is point the finger at themselves.

I wonder...will Navalny disappear and never be heard from again and will anyone care or even notice?

Posted by: ADKC | Sep 2 2020 17:57 utc | 45

Ed in Kanata - @42 - Yep, that is also completely possible as an underlying factor. I'd forgotten about the Russian Vaccine - can't have the upstart Ruskies producing a cheap, readily available vaccine, can we? I mean - who'd buy the ultra costly, wallet lining US-UK one(s)?

Posted by: AnneR | Sep 2 2020 17:59 utc | 46

Looks like the Atlantist cabal has decided on total kitchen sink politics. Sad the Russian international megaphone, RT, has now been reduced to a virulent white supremacy blog.

Posted by: Steve | Sep 2 2020 18:01 utc | 47

The Germans could have injected "Novichok" at trace amounts that would not be lethal. Or, just kill him with it, and blame it on Putin. Rather convenient. Russians would not have handed over CIA asset, Navalny, without ample bio samples. Russians prepared for inevitable slanders.

Posted by: El Cid | Sep 2 2020 18:15 utc | 48

The hospital in Omsk still has the original blood samples of Navalny.
Is there a neutral international laboratory that could retest those?

No, but it doesn't matter. The Russians merely need to emphasise their version of the truth and accuse the German 'experts' of gilding the lily, incompetence, and being obedient little US-NATO lap dogs.
Whilst the Germans are dreaming up more unsubstantiated tosh, Russia can invite China to publicise a second opinion on the compound(s) found in Navalny's bio-samples.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Sep 2 2020 18:16 utc | 49

Less to do with Luka, I suspect, than Sputnik V. Competition with Western big Pharma is not permitted, especially not when everyone in Pharma is licking their lips for a gigantic payday from GSK vaccine candidate. Watch the sanctions roll out now for anyone and everyone who would be in a position to manufacture or distribute or even work on Sputnik V.

Posted by: j. casey | Sep 2 2020 18:18 utc | 50

Navalny, a creature of the NED/CIA, is a 'pain-in-the -ass' in Russian politics, but a laughable threat as his party received only 3% of the vote in the last elections.

Even the most cynical of Russia-haters would have to concede that the Russian State would not be stupid enough to poison a political rival on its own soil with a chemical agent that has been purportedly linked to it from the Skripals.

So, cui bono? -- In that NordStream 2 is very nearly nearing completion and the US has run out of bullying and sanctions to stop it, a possible plan might be to raise a 'Skripal-type furor' and demanding that Germany stop or suspend its support of the project.

Agents of any one of the Russia-hating states could have done this poisoning.

Posted by: chet380 | Sep 2 2020 18:19 utc | 51

Bemildred @33--

Thanks for your reply! And this on the heels of the UNSC decision slapping down the Outlaw US Empire for its attempted diktat on snapback sanctions on Iran. Germany seems in charge of itself one day, then the next day it appears completely controlled by CIA. Or is it Merkel menopause?

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 18:29 utc | 52

OPCW and Bellingcat will probably find a direct link to the Kremlin. No third-party testing of blood samples of this racist clown will be allowed. Will the German jet and hospital be destroyed Skripal-style?

Pretty sad that they couldn't come up with a more original plot.

The Ukrainian army could have shot down the German jet with Navalny on board, with Bellingcat blaming it on Russia. Now that would be original, oh wait...

Posted by: Peter | Sep 2 2020 18:29 utc | 53

Now that it's Novichok, Navalny won't be returning to Russia. And maybe that was what this was all about (besides the bonus propaganda points), a staged operation to extract Navalny from Russia.

Posted by: Begemot | Sep 2 2020 18:30 utc | 54

@ 42 ADKC

> A single drop would kill thousands, and houses and properties had to be demolished in Salisbury to protect the public? Do Russians have a natural immunity to "Novichok"?

Should be about 1.2mg to kill a 70-75kg human in about 40-60 seconds.

Same (approximately) as VX.

Imagine drinking VX in your coffee. Same thing really.

Posted by: S.O. | Sep 2 2020 18:33 utc | 55

Going back to Navalny's "confessions" at Omsk of his willingness to become a martyr inform me that he willingly volunteered for this fate, and you'll note how that evidence isn't mentioned whatsoever by BigLie Media--This time the Smoking Gun was spotted before the gun was fired. Navalny's own words indict the entire affair for what it is--a hoax like that formed around the Skripals.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 18:37 utc | 56

This would make every Western darling in Russia fair game for a false-flag poisoning along these lines.
Russian oligarchs in exile should be hiring food tasters...
Skripal Redux.

Posted by: Paul Damascene | Sep 2 2020 18:37 utc | 57

The Navlany-Novichok story now rivals the Epstein-Suicide story for sheer, bald-faced audacity in its challenge to common sense and reality. And both to the same point: the people who rule the world have dispensed with plausibility because they have complete and utter impunity from the media and the governments the media serve.

Posted by: Emily Dickinson | Sep 2 2020 18:38 utc | 58

Lol Peter, well said, the Dutch government still hasn't finished milking all the blood from killing their own civilians. At least the US finally shut up about the wild goose-chase egged on by "help" and "information" from "civil" US MIC companies like Boeing concerning the other Malaysian Airlines and left it as "unknown", relegating it to Discovery Channel style slow burn propaganda "documentaries".

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 18:45 utc | 59

I guess they'll have to scrap the aircraft and demolish the two airports he transited, perhaps they can just remove the roofs?

This whole Novichok thing just demonstrates how inferior Putin really is. Every time he orders someone killed they fuck it up. If he took a leaf out of the DC Playbook he would just wait until the target is invited to a large funeral or wedding and then take them out with a few Hellfire missiles. They know they're dead then.

Posted by: Ramon | Sep 2 2020 18:45 utc | 60

I don't recall any proof that Navalny is a willing CIA tool.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Sep 2 2020 18:50 utc | 61

"Imagine drinking VX in your coffee. Same thing really.

Posted by: S.O. | Sep 2 2020 18:33 utc | 56"

There's no way for example Tuvalu, Madagascar, Kenya, Costa Rica, Argentina, anyone, believes any of the shit being shoveled.

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 18:53 utc | 62

Sunny Runny Burger.
There is no way anyone is going to mention Tuvalu unless they collected stamps as a kid.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Sep 2 2020 18:59 utc | 63

the germans wanted a excuse to end north stream2, that is why the moron was skropaled.

Posted by: Per/Norway | Sep 2 2020 18:59 utc | 64

When I heard the Germans claimed it was Novichok, my immediate response was come on, this is absurd, Navalny gets poisoned with the "deadliest nerve agent ever" and he survives and no one else in the area of the alleged poisoning is impacted. This is impossible, but the European powers, under US occupation, are obliged to follow US diktats, even order that are clearing driving us to another Cold War

Posted by: Kadath | Sep 2 2020 19:01 utc | 65

Lol Tuyzentfloot XD Damn, you got me :)

Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Sep 2 2020 19:08 utc | 66

If the Russians wanted him dead, he would be dead. It’s too ridiculous to believe that all these people they supposedly poison somehow survive.

Posted by: Danny C | Sep 2 2020 19:12 utc | 67

Seems like a lot of people here are almost willing Nord Stream II to fail and some even asserting that Merkel wants it to fail.
For the record I think they are all misreading the situation. And even if it should fail, it would be nothing to gloat about.
Just my tuppenceworth.

Posted by: AtaBrit | Sep 2 2020 19:12 utc | 68

Other questions one might ask (and will never get answered): (...)

Another question that could be added to that list is:
Why would the Kremlin care about a nobody like Navalny - who only gets about 2% support in opinion polls despite his talent for self-promotion?

Regardless of his heroic image in the Western media, many Russians see him as what he really is - a xenophobic gun nut and an ally of the oligarch Khodorkovsky. The vast majority in Russia would prefer stability than to be ruled by characters like that. Navalny's so unpopular that it's not worth wasting even a bullet on him, never mind a nerve agent that has to be handled extremely carefully.

The 'Novichok' attack only gives him the publicity that he craves. He makes a dramatic exit where he flees the evil regime that poisoned him with the world's most dangerous chemical weapon! That looks a lot better than his next best option - chickening out by hopping on a plane to Europe and never going back.

Posted by: Brendan | Sep 2 2020 19:19 utc | 69

@ Posted by: AtaBrit | Sep 2 2020 19:12 utc | 69

This is why Merkel has been able to survive for so long in command of Germany, in my opinion: she knows the time to be an Atlanticist and the time to be a "Prussian". She's been able to, uniquely among others, balance the interests of the Atlanticist faction and the nationalist faction of the German bourgeoisie.

She's already state the Nordstream II will be finished, with or sans-Navalny.

Posted by: vk | Sep 2 2020 19:24 utc | 70

Hey Russian defenders,

Russians still blame Germans for the Katyn mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia during WWII (April-May 1940).

Posted by: Xpilgrim | Sep 2 2020 19:29 utc | 71

AtaBrit @69--

Do praytell in what way is this being "misread"? Russia's being smeared again for some sort of political gain by the West; so, we're speculating on what that gain might be. And which nations need to be convinced that Russia lacks credibility?

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 19:31 utc | 72

@ Posted by: Xpilgrim | Sep 2 2020 19:29 utc | 72

The Katyn executions were absolutely necessary. If Stalin hadn't ordered them, the British would have a significant anti-communist force under its direct command right at the gates of Russia (Poland and Belarus are a giant plains, very hard to defend). It would be a losing move.

Posted by: vk | Sep 2 2020 19:32 utc | 73

WHO Indeed ??

It's there. Right in front of you! The Great-Late-OverSellDated Peter-Principlalities .. comprised as they are .. of numerous Trans-GLOBULL Oligarchies.. various 3-letters (pick a country/geographical regional- ANY country/geographical region..) or several of the lttlebig MstreamedM (not to disinclude of course, it's Legacy A#ONE Prime-Timed televised/print derivative sweep-$t@kes ..) and, lastly, the Purple People-Eatin (I mean C'mon! - what a mix of backrow Blue phoneys & RedQueen backwardsders ( Ann their hunger-on...but PURPLE!!!) Better get that votin Thumb at your ready, Prolies!.. oops i meamt CONNED$umer, CITIzens, whatever - why, Governed-MenTs .. you sillys (i can justabout hear the sound of the wokestokin wailing of virtue-klaxons as I type!) of All races, creeds, tribes, affiliations, familial, techtonic, whathaveyou, etc ect ect. Hope I didn't leave any culprits out.
I gotta go.

Posted by: polecat | Sep 2 2020 19:34 utc | 74

The official story has to claim it was novichok. If the official story were that he got poisoned by any other chemical, then the Germans would have no evidence that it was the GU specifically. But (presumably) only the GU has access to novichok--therefore, you can automatically assume that the GU did everything, no additional evidence needed.

Posted by: Timothy Hagios | Sep 2 2020 19:34 utc | 75

"Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.

Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn’t know it.
It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them.

You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis."
Harold Pinter 2005
...

If I am continuously punching you in the face, how many times before you realize I am going to continue punching? If I am cutting you with my knife of 1000 cuts, when do you realize every flick of my knife WILL cut you?

Why and how is anyone confused by the Western Govt/Media narratives? They have been punching and cutting you for Decades, and yet you still believe the next swing or cut may not arrive? Do you think it will stop? Do you think they will suddenly become honest, benevolent and caring?

So what are you doing to prevent the blows and bleeding cuts? Pretend it's not happening? Curl up in a helpless ball? When do you actually help others, defend yourself and fight back?

Posted by: CitizenX | Sep 2 2020 19:36 utc | 76

here is another true false story

Posted by: snake | Sep 2 2020 19:37 utc | 77

Well at least the opposition lady Lyubov Sobol, is maintaining the reputation that Russian woman are hot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyubov_Sobol#/media/File:%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C,_%D0%9B%D1%8E%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C.png

Then there is the angry librarian look, this book is two weeks overdue ... https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/russian-baliffs-seize-460000-from-navalny-a-1016534.html
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/lyubov-sobol-46992.php
https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/world/activist-emerges-as-new-leader-of-moscow-election-protests-1.4553263

She definitely has the hot librarian look down pat.

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Sep 2 2020 19:38 utc | 78

Hopefully, my above streamofconsciousness was less indecipherable than that of 'unka joe's....

Posted by: polecat | Sep 2 2020 19:39 utc | 79

Germany has an obligation to report this suspected use of novichok to the OPCW, and they must investigate, as they did in Salisbury. Let's see if that happens. My intuition tells me that *ifI this incident is simply propaganda, then going through the OPCW will be too cumbersome, and this step will be skipped, and Westerm leaders will jump over due process and move straight to sanctions, diplomatic expulsions, etc.

Posted by: SayLess | Sep 2 2020 19:43 utc | 80

Donkeytale @ 7
You naa lie !
Kudos

Posted by: Mark2 | Sep 2 2020 19:44 utc | 81

One mistake though. This wasn't simply the US behind the Color Revolution attempt in Belarus. It was Europe too.

>>Why was the German government so eager to get Navalny to Berlin?

Because the German Government is hostile to Russia. It is a veeery big sign of its hostility.

Germany joining the Novichok anglo dramas is a red sign (among other things, such as rejecting european defence force independent from NATO) that it is still a puppet country. To a large extent.

Posted by: Passer by | Sep 2 2020 17:02 utc | 28

Fully agreed. This is why the Russians should start taking this extremely racist propaganda onslaught seriously. It seems that the Kremlin is trapped in a rather introvert approach, trying to convince the Russian citizenry that its alla defamatory campaign, ignoring the effect it has on other nations.

Plus, it doesn't help at all that the main RT cable has been transformed into a far-right outlet, actively playing into the hands of western propagandists and contradicting the content of RT Spanish and RT America.

Posted by: Constantine | Sep 2 2020 19:59 utc | 82

Xpilgrim #72

Given Poland's current belligerence it appears that some escaped the killing. I guess they were novichoked too.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 2 2020 20:00 utc | 83

Why the "special German military laboratory?" Because the German military is under the operational control of the US, specifically General Tod Wolters Supreme Allied Commander Europe. . . .An ordinary laboratory wouldn't provide the desired results, they had to be "special military."
As for getting Merkel on board, that's easy with a CIA reminder of something they heard in a Merkel phone call, something that would harm her legacy. Remember Pompeo's CIA: "We lie, we cheat, we steal..."

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 2 2020 20:01 utc | 84

The Katyn executions were absolutely necessary. If Stalin hadn't ordered them, the British would have a significant anti-communist force under its direct command right at the gates of Russia (Poland and Belarus are a giant plains, very hard to defend). It would be a losing move.

Posted by: vk | Sep 2 2020 19:32 utc | 74

Totally disagree. Considering the fact that Germany was bound to attack the USSR, many of these officers could be drafted into the Red Army with the promise of future liberation of Poland. A bit of agitprop on the criminal failure of Polish nationalism which led to the demise of the Polish Republic would further help. In short, it wasn't just a crime, but a blunder too.

I would note that the idea to execute the prisoners came from Beria. Stalin should have not adopted this suggestion.

Posted by: Constantine | Sep 2 2020 20:04 utc | 85

One wonders what definition* of the pejorative "tankie" it is that donkeytale had in mind at #7.

Or can one of the bar regulars clue me in to what this donkey person is probably trying to say?

*There are various uses of the term nowdays but it used to be very specific. Did the Soviet Union have a history of poisoning people? More so than their capitalist counterparts?

Posted by: _K_C_ | Sep 2 2020 20:10 utc | 86

This recent report by Sputnik reminds me of the similar sequence of alleged Skripal events that were never backed by facts from UK. Here's the relevant quote:

"'As far as we understand, the main addressees of today's statements were the EU and NATO, and for some reason, the OPCW was also mentioned. This was instead of doing what should have been done in the first place, namely, to respond to the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office. Once again, I want to emphasize that this request remained unanswered, on a par with two other requests sent by Russian doctors to their German colleagues,' Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said." [My Emphasis]

SOSDD is clearly the appropriate reaction. Merkel seems to be trying to avoid being impaled by the very sharp pickets of the fence she's straddling. I wouldn't be surprised to read a joint statement from Russia/China that all German related projects are being frozen because the German government has apparently caught Neoconitis and is clearly no longer agreement capable. The geoeconomic reality is Germany needs the Russian and Chinese markets while the opposite isn't required.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 20:11 utc | 87

In part the reference to Novichok is a clear signal to anyone who is paying attention that this is BS. It like a code - sorry, Russia, but we're running with a blatantly stupid storyline as cover for (something). Actually, of course, it was likely Novichok Vodka and diabetic shock that did in Navalny, but those details will fly over the head of Russiagaters (Russiagate being QANON for lefties, with mush where the logic centers should be.)

Posted by: zhen | Sep 2 2020 20:12 utc | 88

karlof1 15:57 utc | 3
"My question for b: Will the German public swallow this BigLie if it's indeed used in the manner I suspect?"

Sad to say, but yes, the majority will swallow it and take it as proof that the skripal story is true - or vice versa.

Posted by: pnyx | Sep 2 2020 20:12 utc | 89

@Tuyzentfloot 62

"I don't recall any proof that Navalny is a willing CIA tool."

Getting his payroll info might be a little tricky, and is well beyond my capabilities, but we could start with this:

2010, Navalny listed as a Yale Greenberg World Fellow.

http://worldfellows.yale.edu/alexey-navalny

Greenberg is Federal Reserve, Bilderberg, CFR, etc.

In Russia, Navalny has followed the same tired US regime-change program with the same symbols, the same PR photos, etc.

http://www.fort-russ.com/2017/03/yale-prepares-russian-colour-revolution.html

Posted by: Ken Garoo | Sep 2 2020 20:14 utc | 90

I wouldn't be surprised to read a joint statement from Russia/China that all German related projects are being frozen because the German government has apparently caught Neoconitis and is clearly no longer agreement capable. The geoeconomic reality is Germany needs the Russian and Chinese markets while the opposite isn't required.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 2 2020 20:11 utc | 88

I would be surprised, especially in the case of the Russians. They seem inexplicably eager to become accepted by those who are fundamentally incapable of doing such a thing. I mean, at the very least Russia should threaten to cut gas supplies to Maidanist Ukraine, which, for all practical purposes, is a Nazified US-occupied territory, but Germany demanded that it be included in the Nordstream2 negotiations.

Posted by: Constantine | Sep 2 2020 20:17 utc | 91

I fo hope it is really just yawn. Bhadrakumar thinks a lot of trouble is brewing up.

https://indianpunchline.com/us-russia-tensions-flare-up-on-multiple-fronts/

Posted by: Nathan Mulcahy | Sep 2 2020 20:17 utc | 92

@karlof1 | 73

There is no question that Russia is being
'smeared' by the west for the west. And speculation is of course healthy. For what it's worth I think you might want to look closer to home for the reason.

What is being misread, in my opinion, is Germay,Russia and Europe's resolve regarding completion of Nord Stream II and/ or the importance to the EU of not bending to US's bullying on an issue which has already been referred to as one of EU soveriegnty and energy security, let alone the impact to the German economy should it not get up and running. A smear campaign will achieve what? And what would Merkel's drive be to want to scupper the project? (Merkel is not May.)

Here's good article on precisely this,albeit a couple of months old.

https://m.dw.com/en/danish-nod-gives-nord-stream-2-gas-pipeline-fresh-traction/a-54086532

Anyway. Putin is no doubt glad to get shot of Navalny as are nost Russians. The west can deal with their own little stooges and distractions.(More fool the west for givin them such credibiloty.)
On a lighter note, the scenario has allowed for plenty of humour in Russia. I know there are other Russian speakers on here,so I hope they've been paying attention. )))

Posted by: AtaBrit | Sep 2 2020 20:22 utc | 93

CitizenX #77

Thank you for the Harold Pinter reminder. Never too late to hear his erudite statement.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PH96tuRA3L0

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Sep 2 2020 20:23 utc | 94

This guy Navalny has never in 20 years actually been mentioned by name in public by Putin, according to Western accounts. Why, if he is such a big deal?

This guy Navalny is a right wing nationalist extremist. He would not be our friend in any way, except that he is said to be an opponent of Putin. Is he after all such a good guy for us to by advocating?

If he is such an important opponent of Putin, how come Putin has not noticed him in public?

It seems this is a stalking horse for those who want to bash Putin and/or Russia. Just an excuse.

We already know who has that conclusion, and why.

Posted by: Mark Thomason | Sep 2 2020 20:27 utc | 95

@ vk | Sep 2 2020 19:32 utc | 74

Hm, what about Smolensk April 10, 2010 execution?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_air_disaster

Posted by: Xpilgrim | Sep 2 2020 20:32 utc | 96

It's just more of the standard Western propaganda that gullible Westerners (the vast majority of the population) believe to be true.
And lazy jump-on-the-bandwagon Western journalists help to solidify these beliefs via mere speculation:
https://lfpress.com/opinion/columnists/dyer-putin-undoubtedly-had-hand-in-poisoning-of-opposition-leader

For example: "everybody knows" that Assad repeatedly used chemical weapons to kill innocent Syrians, Russia is constantly interfering in the elections/affairs of other countries, and Putin regularly shoots, poisons, or otherwise gets rid of people he doesn't like. These "facts" have now become "common knowledge" among Westerners. And they're all backed up by Wikipedia, which judges the New York Times and Washington Post to be "reliable sources" no matter what undocumented speculations they publish.

When will it all stop? Or is it unstoppable?

Posted by: Mark Mosby | Sep 2 2020 20:35 utc | 97

@Ken Garoo, thanks. Your second link doesn't work. The timing is interesting, it's when Navalny came to the foreground.

Posted by: Tuyzentfloot | Sep 2 2020 20:42 utc | 98

@ Posted by: Constantine | Sep 2 2020 20:04 utc | 86

No. By the mid-1930s, the USSR already knew Poland was the most anti-Soviet nation in existence. They already know Poland preferred to make an alliance witg Germany to invade the USSR than making an alliance with the UK, France and the USSR against Germany.

See Jabara Carley's "The Alliance that Never Was..." for the diplomatic negotiations between the main European nations in the 1930s. The evidence gives no room fir reasonable doubt - the only question you could make is if Poland imploded the antinazi alliance alone or if it was just an useful idiot for Chamberlain's UK.

Posted by: vk | Sep 2 2020 20:46 utc | 99

Xpilgrim | Sep 2 2020 19:29 utc | 72:

Russians still blame Germans for the Katyn mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia during WWII (April-May 1940).

Posted by: David G | Sep 2 2020 20:46 utc | 100