Kremlin accuses Navalny of working with CIA; Putin's critic to sue govt spokesperson

The Kremlin accused Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny of working with the Central Intelligence Agency, a foreign intelligence service of the US, soon after Navalny held Putin’s responsible for the suspected poisoning. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “specialists” of the CIA are working with Navalny as the Russian leader continues with his recovery process in Germany.

“It’s not the patient working with Western intelligence, it’s Western intelligence working with him. That would be more accurate,” said Peskov.

The accusation from Peskov is apparently the first time when Russian authorities have accused the anti-corruption campaigner of working with a foreign intelligence agency. Navalny said he would sue the Kremlin spokesperson and demand the publication of evidence and facts indicating that he works with “CIA specialists.”

“You know that I rarely sue propagandists, even though they lie about me all day long. However, here is a direct statement from a government official. Therefore, firstly, I am filing a lawsuit against Peskov,” wrote Navalny in his blog.

German health authorities had confirmed the poisoning of Navalny with a nerve agent from the Novichok group, citing toxicological test results. Later, specialist laboratories in France and Sweden also confirmed the poisoning with the Soviet-style nerve agent Novichok. Navalny's team said that the politician was poisoned at his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk and not at the airport as suspected earlier. 

Read: Russian Parliamentarian Lambasts Navalny, Says Putin 'saved' His Life

Read: US Senators Request Trump To Initiate Probe Into Kremlin Critic Navalny's Poisoning

International demand for response

Meanwhile, the leaders of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee have requested President Donald Trump to consider whether the Russian government poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a chemical nerve agent, which would be subject to sanctions. The letter by US Senators Jim Risch and Bob Menendez followed a similar request from leaders of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on September 8 amid growing international demand for an appropriate response to Navalny’s poisoning.

“We are very concerned by assessments that Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was poisoned in August 2020, by a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok family,” the members wrote.

Read: Navalny 'grateful' To German Chancellor Angela Merkel For Visiting Him At Hospital

Read: Russian Opposition Figure Alexei Navalny Thanks First Responders Amid Recovery In Germany