Putin says if Russia had poisoned opposition leader Navalny he would be dead france24.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from france24.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video call during a news conference in Moscow, Russia, on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
MOSCOW (AFP) President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected reports that Russia’s security services were behind the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, saying that if they were, the opposition leader would not be alive.
Navalny, 44, fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August and was hospitalized in the Russian city of Omsk before being transported to Berlin by medical aircraft.
Experts of several Western countries concluded that the Kremlin critic was poisoned with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent a claim that Moscow has repeatedly denied.
Putin says Russia could have killed Navalny had it wanted to hindustantimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hindustantimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bellingcat on Navalny report: The Kremlin needs to prove us wrong
Journalist Christo Grozev contributed to Bellingcat s investigation into the poisoning of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. He tells DW about how the group did it, why it wants the Kremlin to comment on its findings.
Bellingcat wants the Kremlin to prove them wrong on Navalny, President Putin says the report is a US smear campaign
Journalists with Bellingcat, an international investigative research network, have published the names of those suspected of having poisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. All individuals are members of Russia s Federal Security Service (FSB).
Christo Grozev, who contributed to Bellingcat s investigation, explains how the network obtained suspects personal data and why Navalny like former Russian spy Sergei Skripal before him was poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent.