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Opposition politician Navalny: In the sights of the FSB
Photo: Peter Rigaud / DER SPIEGEL
On Monday morning last week, Alexei Navalny did something unusual for a victim of an attempted murder.
He called his suspected assassins.
It was a few hours before SPIEGEL, after conducting joint research with the investigative platforms Bellingcat and The Insider, as well as the US news broadcaster CNN, revealed that it was apparently a team of at least eight agents from the Russian domestic intelligence service (FSB) who attacked the opposition politician in August Poisoned Novichok.
Navalny had learned the results of the research prior to publication.
He decided without further ado to confront the suspects personally.
The following descriptions are based on a recording of the events.
"Good day.
My name is Alexei Navalny.
I'm calling you because I want to know why you wanted to kill me. "
First he dialed the number of Michail Schwez, 43, one of the eight FSB agents who are said to have been involved in the poison attack.
Navalny pretended to be an advisor to Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Russian Security Council.
But Schwez recognized Navalny's voice and quickly hung up again.
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