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Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that elements of the Russian Special Services had tried to assassinate the opposition, Alexei Navalny (44 years old), responded to a question about it with a strange comment.
Putin said that if they wanted to kill him, they would “finish” him, according to the US network “CNN”.
In his comments, Putin said that Navalny “has the support of the United States special services.”
Putin made his comments in response to a question contained in his annual press conference, in the context of a recent investigation by “CNN” and the “Bellingcat” research site.
Investigations revealed evidence that the Russian Federal Security Service had assembled an elite team specializing in nerve agents and had tracked Navalny for years.
At the conference, Putin confirmed that Federal Security Forces personnel had already tracked down Navalny, while he did not comment on the recent investigation.
The investigation revealed that several people monitored the movements of the Russian opposition figure, Navalny, immediately before he was poisoned which nearly killed him.
The network’s report indicated that a 33-year-old Russian woman, Maria Pevshekh, checked into a flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, but was not alone.
That was the trip that preceded the Navalny exhibition trip to Siberia.
Following that woman to Domodedovo airport that morning was a member of the elite unit of the Russian Security Service, Oleg Tayakin, who remained there until she left Pevchikh.
Pevchik traveled before Navalny’s visit to Siberia as part of his anti-corruption campaign.
It turned out that Navalny’s team was constantly monitored by the Russian intelligence service, which was established from the aftermath of the KGB.
Tayakin led the monitoring team, and the CNN investigation noted that he was not only a member of the intelligence agency, but “belonged to a small team specialized in toxins and nerve agents.”
And that same morning, several agents of the Russian security services were heading to Novosibirsk, in Siberia, two hours before their colleague Pevshekh arrived.
And everyone knew that Navalny would arrive in Novosibirsk the next day.
Exactly a week later, Navalny was fighting for her life after her body was destroyed by nerve gas.
Navalny’s health collapsed on the trip to Tomsk, the last leg of his trip to Siberia.
The investigation also found that this unit had followed Navalny on more than 30 flights to and from Moscow since 2017.
By examining thousands of phone records along with flight data and other documents, this joint investigation, which continued for the more well-known customers involved, identified their background, contacts and travel.
CNN showed footage of several agents involved in the Navalny poisoning, during an interview at a secret location in Germany last week, where he is still recovering.
Navalny said he didn’t recognize any of them.
