In Russia, poison is just one of methods used to attack Kremlin critics
What did the investigation find?
According to the investigation, the St. Petersburg State Institute for Experimental Military Medicine of the Ministry of Defense ( GNII VM ) lead research and development into Novichok and its weaponization since 2010, most likely with the assistance of researchers at the Scientific Center Signal ( SC Signal ).
The two also appear to have worked with the 33rd Central Experimental Institute for Scientific Research of the Ministry of Defense originally involved with the chemical weapons development program.
Telecoms analysis showed that the head of the St. Petersburg institute, Sergey Chepur, had extensive communication with GRU Military Unit 29155 which the investigators assume was linked to the Skripal s poisonings to a degree that cannot be explained away by purely defensive considerations, said the report published on the Bellingcat website.
Hunting the Hunters: How We Identified Navalny s FSB Stalkers December 14, 2020
Today, alongside investigative partners CNN, Der Spiegel, and The Insider, we identified a long-running FSB operation to trail Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny, including a number of chemical weapons experts involved in the research and development of Novichok. How did we find all of this information, and how did we verify the information? We’ll detail our investigative methodologies here, with some discussion on Russian data markets, cross-referencing data to be sure of its veracity, and other topics.
Bellingcat has previously investigated the role of a chain of Russian government-run scientific institutes in providing research into and manufacturing of nerve agent for GRU’s overseas assassination program, including the March 2018 Novichok poisoning of Sergey and Yulia Skripal and the earlier poisoning of Bulgarian arms manufacturer Emilian Gebrev.
Alexey Navalny: CNN-Bellingcat investigation identifies Russian specialists who trailed Putin s nemesis msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
At about 9 a.m. on August 13, a 33-year-old Russian woman named Maria Pevchikh checked in for a flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. She was not alone. Trailing her to Domodedovo airport that morning was a member of an elite unit of the Russian Security Service, the FSB. Oleg Tayakin, a slim, balding man with blue-green eyes, remained at the airport until Pevchikh left. Pevchikh was travelling in advance of a visit to Siberia by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose anti-corruption campaign she leads. The Navalny team is constantly watched by the FSB in Russia, the successor to the Soviet Union s secret police force, the KGB. But Tayakin is no ordinary agent. He belongs to a small team specializing in toxins and nerve agents. That very morning, several of its agents were on their way to Novosibirsk, two hours ahead of Pevchikh. They knew that Navalny, a thorn in President Vladimir Putin s side for nearly a decade, would arrive in Novosibirsk th
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The investigation also found that this unit has followed Navalny on more than 30 trips to and from Moscow since 2017.
REUTERS
At about 9:00 Moscow time on August 13, a 33-year-old Russian woman named Maria Pevchikh checked in for a flight from Moscow to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. She was not alone.
Trailing her to Domodedovo airport that morning was a member of an elite unit of the Russian Security Service, the FSB. Oleg Tayakin, a slim, balding man with blue-green eyes, remained at the airport until Pevchikh left. The woman was traveling in advance of a visit to Siberia by Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, whose anti-corruption campaign she leads, CNN reported.