Bellingcat joint report alleges Russia’s FSB behind Navalny poisoning
The UK-based independent research group Bellingcat on Monday revealed in a joint report with several media outlets that the poisoning of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny was carried out by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
The investigation included cooperation with the Russian news site The Insider, the German Der Spiegel and the US-based CNN. The FSB is the successor of the KGB, the Soviet-era secret police force that stopped operating after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
On August 20, Navalny fell ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Omsk, where he spent two days in hospital before being evacuated to Germany.
Germany said he was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him. Later, Germany said that two independent laboratories – one in Sweden and one in France – confirmed that Navalny was poisoned with Novichok. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also confirmed that Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent in the Novichok family.
Navalny, who is currently recovering in Germany, reiterated his accusation that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin ordered the attack. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that it was involved in the poisoning.
Bellingcat said its investigation identified three FSB operatives who traveled alongside Navalny to Novosibirsk and then followed him to the city of Tomsk where he was poisoned. It added that they were supported by “at least” five more FSB operatives, some of whom also traveled to Omsk.
“I know who wanted to kill me. I know where they live. I know where they work. I know their real names. I know their fake names. I have their photos. This is a story about a secret group of murderers from the FSB that includes doctors and chemists, about how they tried to kill me several times and almost killed my wife once”, Navalny said on Monday.
Navalny, 44, has endured multiple incarcerations in recent years, a barred attempt to run for president, and a hamstrung bid for the Moscow mayor’s post.
