In this video, Alexei Navalny personally calls one of the members of the FSB-controlled hit squad — chemist Konstantin Kudryavtsev — and, posing as an aide to Nikolai Patrushev, gets him to confess to what he did. The FSB officer’s account of how Novichok was used not only definitively proved the Kremlin’s involvement in the assassination attempt, but also went down in history as a symbol of the absurdity and degradation of Russia’s security services.
Text version
0:00
Hi, this is Navalny. I told you that
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this whole poisoning story is better
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than a Hollywood movie, and you still can't
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imagine just how much. In a classic
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detective story, there is always a scene where the
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killer confesses to what he did, and we have one
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too. It's simply unbelievable, but let's go
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through everything in order. Exactly a week ago, we
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published our investigation, and it became a
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global sensation. On my YouTube channel alone,
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it already has 17 million views.
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The evidence we presented is
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so compelling that even the person who ordered
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the crime, President Putin, could not
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deny it and effectively confirmed that
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the "magnificent eight" who followed me
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for nearly four years were FSB officers.
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Well, obviously Putin could not tell the whole
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country, "Yes, I ordered the FSB
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to kill my political opponent," so
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he started spouting nonsense again, saying that
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there was no investigation at all, and that all of this was
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just CIA information being laundered,
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and that the FSB officers were merely
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keeping an eye on me. And the main
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proof that there was no poisoning
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is that I am alive, because
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if they had wanted to poison me, then of course they would have
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poisoned me. Listen, we understand perfectly well
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what this is. In both the first and this case,
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this is laundering, not some kind of
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investigation. This is the legalization
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of materials from American intelligence services, about which
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we do not know how they tracked the location.
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Our intelligence services understand this well and
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know it. Then, of course, the intelligence services
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must keep an eye on him.
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As for the claim that he was poisoned—who needs that resource?
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If they had wanted to, they probably would have finished it right away.
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After Putin, his words were confirmed and
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spelled out in more detail by the press secretary
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to the president, Dmitry Peskov.
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He even gave the reason why he was being watched:
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the ears of foreign involvement were showing.
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It's hard to say specifically. Well, of course, of course, we
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have also repeatedly said
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that various statements raise many questions,
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including statements calling for the overthrow
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of the government, and the fact that he was not protected
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from poisoning.
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Our special services... And Peskov also
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put it even more clearly to journalists,
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saying that the FSB was watching me because
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this is standard practice for those who
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have contact with the intelligence services of other
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states, and who also make
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statements calling for
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a violent change of power.
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So, after thinking it over for a few days,
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the Kremlin and Putin answered us: first,
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the CIA is behind everything; second, yes, FSB officers
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were there,
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but they were just watching me; third, if
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they had wanted to kill me, they would have. Since I am alive,
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they did not try to kill me. The CIA argument is so
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ridiculous that it was immediately
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debunked by journalists, including
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pro-Kremlin ones.
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They wrote detailed reports explaining that
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to obtain the information
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used in the investigation,
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Bellingcat did not need anything even remotely like the CIA.
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It really is sold to anyone
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who wants it.
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It's funny that Kremlin media even
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lament that because of me, these lookup services
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will now become more expensive. Putin, by the way, at the same
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press conference also
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called the investigation into his billionaire son-in-law
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the work of the CIA, the State Department, and
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U.S. intelligence services.
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They are the real authors of it, in fact.
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In other words, all of this was done on their orders.
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That is completely obvious. The second
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part of Putin's rebuttal also does not
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stand up to criticism.
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If they were watching me because I was supposedly
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an extremist, then why was the surveillance carried out by
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doctors and chemists?
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Why did they fly on different planes from
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me? Why did they arrive and leave at different
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times from me, on different flights, with
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a day's difference? This is a complete lie, and there is
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nothing to discuss here. That leaves
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the main argument: if they had wanted to poison me,
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they would have poisoned me. No one can tell us about that
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except the killers themselves. Well, they
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did tell us—or rather, one of them did.
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Last Monday, we were preparing
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to publish the materials at exactly 3:00 p.m.
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Moscow time, simultaneously
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with Bellingcat, The Insider, CNN, El País,
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and Der Spiegel. Obviously, five
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minutes after publication, the group of killers and their
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bosses would realize they had been exposed and
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would go to ground, change their phones, and so
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on. We did not rule out the possibility that these
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eight men who had failed their mission would simply be
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killed, or hidden away, or hidden first and
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then killed. So at 6:00 a.m.
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Moscow time, we organized something like a
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headquarters here and divided up
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the tasks among ourselves so that from 7:00 a.m.
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we could start acting simultaneously and
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catch the villains off guard. At 7:00, Lyubov
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Sobol knocked on the door of one of the killers.
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Sobol.
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At the same time, outside one of the FSB headquarters
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where the killers work,
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they were being watched by Dmitry Nizovtsev, a correspondent for the Navalny LIVE channel,
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and 20 minutes later he
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was detained by police after a call from the FSB.
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Good afternoon, this is the head of
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the Ramenki municipal district calling.
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Maksim Bronislavovich Gallyamsky.
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Could you please tell me, we have received
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reports that Dmitry Nizovtsev is being held
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at your police department, detained—a correspondent.
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CNN's Clarissa Ward showed up at seven in the morning.
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To the coordinator of the hit squad, Oleg, I...
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...will play it, and these spectacular few seconds...
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...were seen by the whole world. Yakin, draw me...
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My name is Clarissa. I work for CNN.
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Cinema and hellish cop and cat... may I ask you...
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She asks: is this your team, Darwin?
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At the bathroom museum eating.
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Used place, Channel 31.
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But at exactly seven in the morning, I started making calls.
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To my would-be killers. The NKVD (the Soviet secret police) were in...
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There were phone numbers and a list of numbers from which...
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...they themselves make calls.
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Analysis of this data showed that in order...
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...to conceal the content of their conversations, they...
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...use a special number, something like...
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...something of that sort.
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...an FSB switchboard. We took...
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...the simplest program, the kind used by...
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...phone pranksters, in order to...
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...hide the number I was calling from and...
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...substitute the number we needed instead.
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The calculation was very simple: a call at seven...
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...in the morning, you see a familiar work number...
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...you pick up and start talking.
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Almost everyone I called answered.
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Almost all of them quickly hung up, and then we...
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...got very lucky: Konstantin Borisovich...
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Kudryavtsev, a military chemist from the Institute...
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...of Criminalistics of the FSB, who had previously worked at...
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...a scientific research center...
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...for biological safety at the Ministry...
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...of Defense and at the Military Academy of Radiation...
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...Chemical and Biological Defense.
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He spoke with me for 45 minutes.
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He assumed I was an aide to the secretary...
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...of the Security Council and former director...
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...of the FSB, Patrushev. But at the start of the conversation, I could...
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...only rely on three facts that we knew: that he...
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...was part of a secret hit squad, that he...
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...was a chemist, and that on August 25 he flew to Omsk.
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So I assumed that he had collected...
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...my clothes from the hospital and taken them in an unknown...
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...direction. My clothes disappeared; it was entirely...
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...likely that one of the participants took them...
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...from the group—Kudryavtsev. On August 25 he flew...
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...to Omsk, and by the end of the conversation Konstantin...
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...kindly explained many details to us, and...
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...now I am speaking completely officially and...
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...will submit the appropriate statement.
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Here is Kudryavtsev's photo, here is his phone number. We...
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...know that he is an FSB officer, and now you...
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...will hear his voice. Any phono...
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...graphic examination will confirm that...
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...it is his voice.
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His words are enough to arrest not only...
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...the killers, but also those who helped them...
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...cover up the traces of the crime. When...
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...President Putin said at a press conference...
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..."But if they had wanted to poison him..."
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...they would have poisoned him at a resort hotel or finished the job...
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...to the end"—a phrase now repeated by...
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...all propagandists—I was simply clapping my hands...
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...with joy, because FSB officer...
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...Kudryavtsev answered for all of us exactly that...
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...question. And besides, now you will...
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...find out why President Putin thinks so much...
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...about, excuse me, my underpants.
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Konstantin? Hello, Konstantin Borisovich.
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Hello, my name is Maxim Ustinov.
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Sergeyevich.
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I am an aide to Nikolai Platonovich...
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...Patrushev. Vladimir...
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...Mikhailovich Bogdanov gave me your number. Sorry in advance...
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...for the call; I need 10 minutes of your time.
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I really need it, because the leadership is once again...
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...discussing the new operation again...
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...and will probably ask you later for a report...
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...to prepare. But right now I am drafting a briefing for...
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...Nikolai Platonovich for the Security Council...
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...all of this will be discussed at the highest...
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...level. So I just need one paragraph...
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...short and clear, from team members...
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...about what went wrong, why in Tomsk...
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...it was a complete failure with Navalny. Your...
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...opinion—please tell me, and I will write it down.
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Later, in the report, it will already...
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...be finalized.
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In Tomsk—I mean in Tomsk, yes. By the...
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...way, Boris...
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Did you hear what he said? I am calling on the instructions of...
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...Patrushev.
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You—you—why did you go to Omsk on the 25th?
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You went to Omsk on the 25th. There was an operation in Tomsk...
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...and right now I am preparing a short...
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...short version of the report.
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What happened there? Later, Vladimir...
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...Mikhailovich will ask you to write the long...
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...version. I understand, once again, but...
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...the leadership for the Security Council...
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...just needs the documents prepared now.
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So if you could really...
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...help me and not keep Nikolai...
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...Platonovich waiting.
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[music]
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That's why I'm calling you. So I will call Maksakov too...
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...of course as well. That is, I...
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...this is just a simple procedure now.
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I will now call Alexandrov...
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...Aksakov... from each of them there will be...
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...a request for a two-paragraph explanation.
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Because in the end I need to produce a report...
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...of two pages, as you understand.
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Who am I making a two-page report for? I...
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...don't want to throw names around, but I would...
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...not be calling you at seven in the morning and would not...
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...have had Bogdanov call at seven in the morning if it were not...
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...an urgent situation. So it's just that...
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...I have written here: "Kudryavtsev:"
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..."believes this and that—why nothing worked out for us..."
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...what was needed, why it went badly, and...
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...what needs to be done to make it go well." On a...
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...ten-point scale, how do you rate...
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...how do you rate Alexandrov's work?
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Obviously he is your colleague, but nevertheless...
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Well?
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A good lady.
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Leadership qualities... skills.
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How do you assess the team's coordination?
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I know Taiyaki wasn't there, but one of ours was there.
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About Sebov, but nevertheless, I...
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He took part in the operation, right? Okay, and...
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Osipov—on a ten-point scale, how would you rate him?
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How would you rate him? Wait, I'm writing this down.
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All right, then here's the logical question, you'd agree.
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I should explain it simply like this.
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Now, if you're saying that...
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you rate both Alexandrov and
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Osipov highly, why did nothing work out?
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[music]
12:11
I understand.
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[music]
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That's exactly why this report is being prepared, yes, yes.
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Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes—I interrupted you, I just...
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I'm saying that's the lesson, that's why we're making
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the report—so that everyone, from their own perspective,
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can take a look. So right now I'm only interested in
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your opinion, all right?
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The obvious question, in response to that,
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the one that should go into my notes: if you
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rate Iosif's work highly,
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and Alexandrov's, why was it a failure? What needs
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to be done in the future so that none of this
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happens again?
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[music]
13:18
I understand that the main thing here is
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right here.
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Well, the flight itself took a bit longer, which...
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Konstantin Borisovich,
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if the flight had lasted longer...
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Yes, yes, yes, well...
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They landed the plane after 40 minutes.
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In principle, that should have been
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taken into account when planning the operation.
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You can't say the plane was landed
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just instantly—they miscalculated
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the dose, probably. Why—how
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was the substance applied? Yes, I know—you would...
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How would you have done it differently? If you, if you
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had been planning the operation, how should it
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have been done differently? So, I still have
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questions. First of all,
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the belongings—where are they, what happened to the belongings, and about identification...
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Where are the belongings?
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[music]
16:48
Yes, you arrived on the 25th, right?
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So what exactly happened to them, to
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those belongings, during transport, yes?
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Let me write this down. Please give me
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the boss's phone number. Yes, of course, I'll add it: 962
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059
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2595
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And his name is?
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At first, while I find out—no problem, give me...
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More details about the belongings—was there something on them?
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A box, I mean—did they find something there, on
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it? What exactly did they do, specifically?
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[music]
18:50
Marks... and which procedure was tested, which...
19:13
What procedure did you carry out? What did you do with
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it, so that I can report what exactly was done then?
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Explain what was done. Also, I have
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among my questions one rather strange question: you
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traveled with Navalny, and also went to Kirov with him
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in 2017, right? How do you personally
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assess him as a person—
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Navalny, I mean?
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[music]
20:01
Well, that's why I misspoke.
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A strange question, yes, yes, yes, yes—I'm listening.
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I'm busy, I'm just not writing it down. All right, and...
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Sorry, this may be a naive question, but I have it
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because, based on what I've written down, I'll be asked it.
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So: the clothes were left behind, the clothes
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were left behind because there could have been
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traces on the clothes, and there could also have been traces on the body.
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But you're saying there couldn't have been traces
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on the body—why?
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[music]
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[music]
21:42
Well, I understand. By the way, as for Rechnik, I'll
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talk to them all myself. I
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repeat, I just need your
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specific view, because the management
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said we need to gather
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information from everyone and build an overall picture.
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So let's summarize once again
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everything we have. So, in your
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opinion, this subject survived because
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the plane was landed too early, correct?
22:27
That's the main reason. And as for the
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circumstances, that's clear enough.
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By circumstances, we mean circumstance number one:
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they landed the plane. Circumstance
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number two is what? Well, yes, there's a chance
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that he saw one of the group members
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face-to-face and would recognize them. I have
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information
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I have information that
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at one point, members of the group once
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flew together with him on the same
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flight.
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Did that happen?
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So you don't know about anything like that. I'm just
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collecting this—on a scale from one to ten,
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what is the probability that he, or members of
25:00
his group or team, could have
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photographed someone, recorded someone, or that someone
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accidentally ended up on camera?
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[music]
25:47
I understand. How do you yourself assess the work
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of the operatives? There won't be
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any surprises with the clothing, will there?
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They went several times to process
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the clothing. Again, I have information that
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this was done before August 25, and
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the second time—Alla...
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a week after August 25. You don't remember exactly?
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Exactly?
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Is there—okay.
26:45
Who else was with you? Kalashnikov?
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No, I don't have him on the list.
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[music]
27:05
I...
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Yamal? Well yes, that's... that's good in winter.
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Bogdanov's Yabloko (a Russian liberal political party)—I'll clarify that question.
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All right, please tell me, Kai—
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which item of clothing, exactly—on which item
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of clothing was the main focus, the strongest emphasis,
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on the theoretically most risky item of clothing?
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Which one? Underwear?
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What, what? Well, where could there have been
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the maximum concentration—on which
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part of the underwear? The inner seam?
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The outer seam, the inner seam, the part that sits close to the body?
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Where exactly? Because on this point I have
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a block of questions here. I’m going to discuss this
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with Aksakov myself, but I need
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your information too, well—
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just picture a pair of underwear.
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Yes, I mean, a pair of underwear—and in which place
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is the most
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on the side part of the underwear?
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[music]
28:20
Wait, this is important—just a second.
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So, who was it that passed along the information that
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the fly area was supposed to be treated—
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that part of the underwear? Who said that? Was it Aksakov?
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I’m writing it down: the inner seam as well.
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Of the underwear.
28:48
OK.
28:49
So, gray-colored underwear, matching the color
28:55
of the underwear—what color was it, do you remember?
28:59
Blue... dark blue. Konstantin Borisovich, that’s all—
29:10
this is astonishing. I’m stunned, I
29:12
really know nothing about this at all. All right.
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If any clarifications are needed, I’ll
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probably be calling within the next couple of hours
29:20
about this, so please stay reachable.
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All right, yes, understood. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
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Still, there’s one thing I don’t understand.
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Did they apply it to the underwear or to the pants?
29:42
To the trousers? Because the information I have
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is contradictory.
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And I can’t make sense of it. They’ll tell me, but
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I want you to tell me.
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Okay, understood, all right. That’s all, Konstantin Borisovich.
30:39
Thank you very much.
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We’ll stay in touch, then. I may contact you again.
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Yes, yes, yes, we haven’t discussed anything like that.
30:53
Especially since this is more of an emergency
30:55
situation. I don’t think it’s anything terrible. I
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cleared it with Bogdan that I would be calling you
30:59
in this kind of situation. Yes, yes, that’s all.
31:05
Agreed. Good.
31:08
Good luck, bye. Well, now you and I know
31:12
of course not everything yet, but already a great, great
31:15
deal. And apparently I’ve become the first person
31:17
in history whose underwear became the subject
31:20
of discussion at the Russian Security Council
31:21
(the top state security body in Russia).
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Or wherever it is that Putin plans his
31:24
most important operations. As you can see, everything
31:27
I said in the previous video about the complete
31:29
degradation of the law enforcement system
31:31
is being confirmed. Just imagine:
31:33
evidence from an attempted murder is being kept by the police,
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then FSB officers (Russia’s security service) come to them,
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take the evidence, wipe away the traces
31:41
of the crime, and then give it back. Then
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they come a second time and do the same thing
31:45
again, just to be sure. That’s not a state,
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that’s a gang of bandits. But look how many people
31:50
are already involved—from doctors and
31:52
police officers to the local FSB—and they all
31:55
commit a serious crime at the first order,
31:57
fabricating evidence, because
32:00
this is not an operation to save the skin
32:01
of some Kudryavtsev or Litaykin;
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they’re saving Putin. He came up with all of this. And
32:07
why do you think all this is happening?
32:09
Because
32:12
well, because, because, because you and I
32:19
have backed them into a corner. There is now
32:21
more than enough evidence, but I can’t present it
32:24
in court.
32:24
I can only present it to the citizens
32:26
of Russia. Last time I asked, and you
32:28
helped me enormously with spreading it.
32:30
And I’m asking again this time. He lies during his live call-in show
32:33
and uses absolutely all the newspapers and all
32:35
the television channels in the country
32:37
to spread his lies.
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The only way we can respond is by
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telling the truth. Take part in this.
32:43
Let the whole country ask Putin
32:45
why there is no investigation. And finally,
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of course I want once again to say a huge
32:50
thank you to the pilots who landed the plane quickly
32:52
and to the medics who gave me first aid.
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My friends, you are surely watching
32:57
this video now, and by this point it is
32:58
completely clear that Putin and the FSB
33:00
wanted to kill me, and you—thanks to you,
33:02
good people who were simply doing your duty—
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thank you. There are more good people in general than
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villains. Pilots and doctors like these are
33:11
the pride of Russia.
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Not people like Tayakin, Putin, and Kudryavtsev.
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And sooner or later, good will defeat evil.
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Subscribe to our channel.
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