Alexei Navalny was poisoned with novichok in Tomsk, German doctors said. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP
An investigation by Bellingcat identifies at least eight FSB operatives who were allegedly behind the poisoning in August of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The team shadowed Navalny on more than 30 trips, Bellingcat reported, citing phone and travel data.
Three FSB officers followed Navalny to Novosibirsk. They then trailed him to the city of Tomsk, where, according to German doctors, he was poisoned with novichok. The officers are members of what is described as a clandestine FSB poisoning unit.
They have different backgrounds: medicine, chemical and biological warfare, special operations. The sub-unit’s apparent purpose was to eliminate people deemed by the Russian state to be enemies, Bellingcat said. It based its analysis on “voluminous” cell phone records and other evidence.