Russia Poisoned Opposition Leader's Underpants, A Trick Call Revealed

KEY POINTS

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny extracted a confession from one of his prisoners by pretending to be a Russian agent on the phone
His attacker confirmed the a team of six followed Navalny for years before poisoning his underpants
Vladimir Putin and the Russian government continue to deny any involvement

Hard evidence has been scarce as to who poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in August.

Or, at least it was, until Navalny called one of his attackers himself pretending to be a Russian government official and recorded a confession, CNN reports.

The call was made possible by an investigation by CNN and Bellingcat that uncovered the team of six Russian operatives that tailed Navalny for years, eventually dosing his underwear with Novichok, a nerve agent.

Both CNN and Navalny had contacted the members of the team to no avail, but Navalny decided to try a different tack on his sixth call. He disguised his number as that of the Russian intelligence headquarters and introduced himself as an administrator conducting an inquiry into the failed poisoning.

Over the course of almost an hour, Konstantin Kudryavtsev admitted to Navalny that they had conducted the operation and explained how they had applied a solid version of Novichok to his underpants. The compound mixed with his sweat and was absorbed through the skin.

Kudryavstev also explained how officials had turned over the clothing five days after the poisoning to be cleaned of any traces of Novichok. The Russian government has refused to return Navalny’s clothing to him for analysis.

When asked what went wrong with the operation, Kudryavstev speculated that an emergency landing by Navalny’s plane after he began to feel ill had saved his life. He rejected the notion that they had gotten the dosage wrong.

"As I understand it, we added [a] bit extra," he told Navalny.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been discharged from a Berlin hospital but still needs a lot of treatement Instagram account @navalny / Handout

Russia President Vladimir Putin and other government officials continue to deny any involvement, recently suggesting that perhaps Navalny had poisoned himself.

The unfolding reports from Western media outlets have been rejected as a smear campaign.

Russia has admitted that they tailed Navalny, ostensibly because they suspected him of being under foreign influence, but said if their agents wanted him dead “they would've probably finished it."

Russia Vladimir putin