MOSCOW (AP) – A top associate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from custody on Sunday and said she was accused of breaking the law after ringing the bell of an alleged security guard who accidentally revealed details about the alleged Navalny’s poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent.
Lyubov Sobol, a key figure in the Navalny Anticorruption Foundation, was detained on Friday 48 hours after a day of interrogation. The move followed Monday’s attempt by Sobol to reach the alleged agent in his apartment in Moscow, which Navalny had previously deceived to reveal details about his alleged poisoning.
Sobol and her allies denied the allegations and claimed she did not break any laws by ringing the bell at the apartment. While Sobol was being heard, the state investigative committee issued a statement accusing her of violent violation – criminal charges that sentenced her to up to two years in prison.
Shortly after her release from custody on Sunday, Sobol told reporters she was formally charged and insisted the case against her was “revenge” on Navalny.
On Monday, Navalny released a phone call he said he made to a man he identified as Konstantin Kudryavtsev and described him as an alleged member of a group of Federal Security Service or FSB officers, who were allegedly poisoned with the Soviet – was agent Novichok in August and then tried to hide it.
Navalny, who is recovering in Germany, said he called the man a few hours before the Bellingcat investigation group released a report claiming that chemical weapons-trained FSB agents had been following him for years and -they found out nearby when he was poisoned.
On appeal, Navalny introduced himself as a security officer and deceived his interlocutor by sharing details about the alleged poisoning operation and acknowledging that he was involved in “processing” Navalny’s underwear so that there were “no traces” of poison.
Navalny fell ill during a flight from Russia on August 20 and was transported to Berlin while still in a coma for treatment two days later. Laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden, as well as tests carried out by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, have determined that he was exposed to a Novichok nerve agent from the Soviet era.
The Russian authorities vehemently denied any involvement in the poisoning, and the FSB rejected the registration launched by Navalny as false.
Earlier this year, Sobol announced that he would run in next year’s parliamentary elections, which are important for the Kremlin, as they will determine who controls the State Duma in 2024. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin’s current term expires and he can seek re-election. , due to a constitutional reform that restored its mandate limits.