Germany approves Russian request to assist in Navalny probe

Germany has approved a request from Russia for legal assistance in the probe into the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. To this end, Berlin's Justice Ministry has tasked state prosecutors with working with Russian authorities.

Berlin state prosecutors said in a tweet that their office had been commissioned to provide legal assistance to Russia and information on Navalny's state of health, "subject to his consent."

Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic, was flown to Germany two days after falling ill on August 20. German experts determined that the 44-year-old was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent, prompting Berlin to demand that Russia investigate the case.

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He was kept in an induced coma for more than a week, before hospital officials said Monday his condition had improved enough for him to be brought out of it.

Russian authorities, in turn, have prodded Germany to share the evidence that led them to conclude that Navalny was poisoned with a military nerve agent. The said agent from the Novichok group was famously used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England, in 2018.

Russian doctors previously said they had found no sign of Navalny's poisoning.

The move to task Berlin prosecutors to work with Russian investigators came a week after Russia's request for assistance was received by the Berlin state Justice Ministry.