Russian Agent Tricked Into Detailing Assassination Attempt

BERLIN, GERMANY — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny survived an attempt to assassinate him with the nerve agent Novichok on August 20.

Now the BBC reports that the investigative group Bellingcat says that Navalny duped a Russian FSB agent into revealing details of the attack.

Navalny reportedly impersonated a security official when he called the agent.

As part of Navalny's ruse to elicit more details of the assassination attempt, Bellingcat says the trick call was set up to indicate it was coming from an FSB landline.

The agent, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, told Navalny that the Novichok had been placed in a pair of Navalny's underpants.

Mr Navalny, who is still recovering in Berlin, posted a recording of the long conversation on his YouTube channel.

The FSB agent also told Navalny the swift response of the airline pilot, and the emergency medical team in Omsk, could have been the reason for the failure to kill him.

Mr Kudryavtsev said he had been sent to Omsk later to seize Mr Navalny's clothes and remove all traces of Novichok from them.

Navalny is known for saying things like "President Putin is sucking the blood out of Russia".