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Russian police raided the home of opposition activist Lyubov Sobol early on Christmas Day and brought her in for questioning, Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his supporters said.
Navalny’s supporters said they thought the police action was a response to her trying to knock on the door of an alleged FSB security agent in Moscow who Navalny said was involved in the failed plot to poison him with novichok in August.
The morning’s raid comes days after Navalny said he had tricked a security service agent from Russia’s FSB spy agency into admitting the plot and revealing that he was poisoned with his underwear.
The FSB has dismissed Navalny’s accusations as a provocation.
The Navalny Anti-Corruption Fund said on Twitter. Friday: “Today, the police arrived at Lyubov Sobol’s apartment at 7 am.”
The 33-year-old woman’s phone was turned off and both Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmyash and Navalny fund chief Ivan Zhdanov said they did not know where she was.
Sobol’s husband and daughter have been able to leave the apartment.
Western governments say Navalny has been poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent engineered by the Soviets in a staggering case that has further damaged Moscow’s relations with major European countries and prompted mutual sanctions.
Sobol went to the Moscow apartment where Konstantin Kudryavtsev, the man Navalny had spoken to, is believed to be living on Monday night. She was arrested and spent more than six hours in a police station.
Speaking with Agence France-Presse at the time, he expressed concern about a possible criminal investigation against him.
Writing on Twitter on Friday, Navalny linked Friday’s police raid to Sobol’s attempt to speak to Kudryavtsev.
Sobol, a lawyer by training, has announced plans to run for parliament next year.
With Agence France-Presse
