The Russian dissident Alexei Navalnyj, after the revelations of an alleged FSB agent, accused President Vladimir Putin of being behind his suspected poisoning with a nerve agent. "I declare that Putin is behind the crime and I have no other versions of what happened," Navalnyj told Der Spiegel, in the first interview he gave after leaving the Berlin hospital where he was treated.
The opponent allegedly set a telephone trap on an alleged FSB agent who was involved in his poisoning. The man would have told him all the details for 49 minutes: as anticipated by "La Repubblica", the Novichok, one of the most aggressive nerve agent, would have been placed on an underwear of the blogger who was saved only thanks to the landing of emergency and first aid in Omsk.
The Russian services deny the allegations by declaring that it is a hoax. "Obviously Navalny is collaborating with the security services and authorities of Western countries, he is serving their interests", was the reaction of the president of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. Volodin previously pointed the finger at Western intelligence services by blaming them for organizing the Navalny poisoning.
Even the Russian president, answering questions from reporters at the annual press conference, rejected the accusations, estranging himself from any involvement in the attempted assassination of the blogger.
“We didn't poison him. Who needs him? If anyone wanted to do it, they would get the job done, "Putin said with a half chuckle, calling the Bellingcat and Insider.ru joint investigation into the Navalnyj case as" laundering material from US intelligence agencies "and a way to "Discredit Russia".