Alexei Navalny Was Poisoned by Secret Russian Security Unit
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned in August by a secret unit of the Russian security service FSB. That is what the research collective Bellingcat writes in a lengthy and meticulous report.
According to the report, Navalny was followed by FSB agents for almost four years. The Kremlin has not yet replied to the story. It is not planning to do that for the first few days either, as today’s and tomorrow’s daily press briefings have been cancelled.
Alexey Navalny, one of the most outspoken opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin, fell seriously ill throughout a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow in August.
He was in an artificial coma for weeks, first in a hospital in Omsk in Siberia, then in the German capital Berlin.
Labs in Germany, France and Sweden concluded that Navalny had been poisoned with a new variant of Novichok, a potent nerve agent developed during the Soviet era. Navalny pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage as responsible for the attack.
He repeats his accusation in a video he recorded himself in response to Bellingcat’s investigation. His own investigators have checked Bellingcat’s findings, he says in the video, and the case has been resolved for him.
“I know who wanted to kill me. I know where they live. I know how they work. I know their real names. I know their aliases. I have their photos,” Navalny says in the video.
