After Alexei Navalny made a fake phone call to one of his alleged assassins, the Russian authorities have launched criminal investigations against a confidante of the Kremlin critic. As Navalny’s colleague Ivan Zhdanov announced today on the short message service Twitter, Lyubov Sobol is accused of „trespassing“ and „threat of violence“. Sobol is also a colleague of Navalny’s.
On Monday she tried to visit the FSB agent in his apartment who had admitted in the phone call that he was involved in the poison attack on Navalny. In the 45-minute phone call published by Navalny on Monday, in which the 44-year-old pretended to be a representative of the Russian Security Council, the alleged FSB agent Konstantin Kudryavtsev admitted the attack. In the recording, Kudryavzew reported that the poison was attached to the inside of Navalny’s underpants.
Navalny collapsed in August during a flight from within Russia. Two days later, he was brought to Berlin Charite University Hospital for treatment, lying in a coma. According to three European laboratories, the results of which have been confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. The Kremlin denies any involvement in the attack.
Sobol was arrested on Monday when she unsuccessfully rang the doorbell of Kudryavtsev’s apartment on the outskirts of Moscow. After several hours in police custody, she was released. According to Nawalnys, the 33-year-old and her family’s home was searched this morning. There was no trace of herself, her cell phone was switched off. Navalny suspected that she was arrested again.
