JRL NEWSWATCH: “Navalny Says He is Breathing on His Own in a Message From His Hospital Bed; The poisoned Russian opposition leader plans to return to Russia, his spokeswoman says.” – New York Times/ Katrin Bennhold, Michael Schwirtz

“… The message came hours after a senior German security official … [said] Navalny was awake, alert and had told German prosecutors that he was refusing to cooperate with a Russian inquiry into his case. He also vowed … to return to Russia as soon as possible to continue his work. … German officials now say they have almost no doubt that the Russian state was behind the poisoning of … Navalny. … that [French and Swedish] laboratories … confirmed … the substance used to poison … Navalny was a form of the nerve agent Novichok. The results match Berlin’s … findings and provide additional confidence of state involvement … Western intelligence agencies have assessed that only the Russian government was likely to have access to such a weapon. German officials and others have said that any use of the nerve agent would violate the Chemical Weapons Convention ….”