[ad_1]
During the annual press conference, the Russian leader responded to the accusations made against the Kremlin, saying that if the Kremlin had wanted to poison Navalna, it would have organized the attack at home.
“If there were such a wish, it would be done,” Putin said with a laugh.
A. Navaln felt ill on a plane flying from Tomsk to Moscow in August and, after the plane landed in Omsk, he was transferred to a hospital in that city and a few days later he was transferred to Germany for treatment.
VIDEO: The case is solved. I know everyone who tried to kill me
Studies in laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden, as well as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), have shown that he has been poisoned by one of the nerve-paralyzing substances Novičiok, developed in the Soviet Union.
The Russian authorities categorically deny having contributed to the poisoning of the opposition.
On Monday, investigative journalism website Bellingcat, US television CNN, Russian investigative journalism website The Insider, and German weekly Der Spiegel announced that a joint investigation had found that Security Service chemical weapons experts Federal (FSB) criticized the Kremlin. followed for several years, including the day he was poisoned.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Alexei Navaln
These people have been following Navalna regularly since 2017, Bellingcat concludes, based on a variety of data, including call and travel information.
“These operations were close to the opposition activist in the days and hours when he was poisoned with a chemical combat weapon,” Bellingcat said, identifying 37 trips since 2017 when Navalna was followed by one or more of the agents.
The study also identified the identities of FSB operators and laboratories that produce materials such as Novičiok. The study was conducted by analyzing phone data and flight information. The study mentions two cases in 2019 and 2020 in which A. Navalns or his wife Julia had unexplained symptoms.
Navaln said the investigation certainly showed that FSB agents tried to kill him on Putin’s orders.
In his first speech after the investigation’s findings were published, Putin said the report was based on data provided by US intelligence agencies, although its authors denied any link to the United States or other Western intelligence services.
“This is not a study at all, it is just a legalization of the material provided by the special services of the United States,” Putin said.
According to him, this means that A. Navaln “has the support of the US special services.
“It’s interesting, and in that case, the special services really have to keep an eye on it,” said the Kremlin leader. “But that doesn’t mean he has to be poisoned, who needs it?”
According to Putin, Navaln accuses the Kremlin of ordering him to poison him in order to raise his political qualifications as a key opposition figure.
“Any responsible person would consider such an attitude wrong,” he added.
Navaln said Thursday that Putin’s comments amount to confessions.
“Putin acknowledged it all,” wrote a critic of the Kremlin on Twitter. “I mean yeah, the FSB has been following me for 4 years.”
Navaln previously said Putin had contributed to his poisoning and vowed to return from Germany to Russia when he made a full recovery.
In response to the Navaln poisoning, the European Union banned six alleged officials, including FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov, from entering its territory and froze their accounts.
[ad_2]
