[ad_1]
Vladimir Putin responded with a laugh on the news that the Kremlin poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalni and said: “If you wanted him to die, he was already dead.”
Speaking today at the marathon’s annual press conference, the Russian leader accused US intelligence agencies of fueling the accusations.
Putin’s comments came after German sources claimed Russia tried to kill Navalny a second time with Novichok nerve gas after surviving the first attack in August.
Navalni fell ill during a domestic flight in Russia on August 20 and flew to Germany while in a coma for treatment two days later.
Tests by laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons revealed that he was exposed to a Novichok nerve gas from the Soviet era.
Russian officials flatly denied allegations that he was involved in poisoning.
On Monday, the Bellingcat research group and the Russian news outlet The Insider published a report claiming that employees of Russia’s local security agency FSB have followed Navalni during his travels since 2017. In his first comment after the Publication of the report, Putin said the new report was based on data provided by US spy agencies (although its authors denied any connection to the US or any other Western intelligence service).
[ad_2]
