Another impressive journalistic investigation coordinated by @bellingcat, on the attempt to poison the Russian opposition activist A. Nawalny in Aug 2020, provides a lot of interesting details proving that we were dealing with an act of state terrorism. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/12/14/fsb-team-of-chemical-weapon-experts-implicated-in-alexey-navalny-novichok-poisoning

2 / At the same time it raises a number of new questions. The most interesting part of Bellingcat's investigation is the disclosure of how the Russian Federal Security Service was systematic and persistent in preparing itself for the attempt to poison (murder) Navalny.

3 / The direct operators were an 8-person team of officers (contacting employees of secret Russian laboratories, producing, among others, toxic substances). His member traveled in the footsteps of Navalny across Russia in teams of 2-3 people from the beginning of 2017.

4 / Their movement indicates that their task was not to follow him but to access the places where he was supposed to stay (mainly hotels). Their activity was supervised by senior FSB officers, accountable to its boss, who was accountable to Putin.

5 / The collected information clearly indicates that we were dealing with a secret operation of the Russian state services, having the nature of political terrorism. It wasn’t an incidental action not agreed with the highest state leadership.

6 / The fact that the operation began a few weeks after Navalny announced (Dec 2016) his participation in the presidential elections in Russia (Mar 2018) and began his tour of the country as part of a long political campaign, confirms the alleged motive of an attempted murder.

7 / The idea was to eliminate the political threat posed by Navalny & to generally intimidate the Russian opposition. However, the operation continued after the elections as Navalny continued his campaign before the next regional (every Sept) & parliamentary elections (Sep 2021).

8 / It is not clear whether, as Navalny claims, there were 2 attempts to murder him during this time (he and his wife felt symptoms of poisoning), including in July 2020 in Kaliningrad. One can speculate if - if an attack took place - it was about dose testing etc.

9 / It is also not clear why for 2.5 years, the FSB, instead of acting in a single action manner, maintained its readiness to kill Navalny & what specifically determined the time and place of the final attack. There is also no info whether the operation was also conducted abroad.

10 / The disclosure of the results of the Bellingcat investigation 3 days before President Putin's annual teleconference (Dec 17) is certainly perceived in the Kremlin as a deliberate action directed by the Western countries (USA, UK, Germany), an attempt of political subversion

11 / ...designed to deepen the crisis in relations with the West.The more so because same day the US media revealed allegations of new Russian cyberattacks on some US govt agencies. It is possible the information from the investigation will help expand the US & EU sanction lists.

12 / The results of the investigation, which clearly show the true nature and methods of the Kremlin, should first of all serve as a warning to those Western politicians who call for a positive revision of relations with #Russia and to undertake pragmatic cooperation with it. END