On Monday Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny published a telephone call he had with FSB operative Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who was allegedly part of the FSB team, which in August poisoned Navalny when he travelled to Siberia.
Navalny survived after the plane he fell sick on was diverted to a nearby airport and he received quick medical attention. He rang Kudryavtsev from Germany last week, pretending to be an aide to a top FSB official.
Below is an edited transcript. Dialogue is in bold.
Navalny: Konstantin Borisovich?
Kudryavtsev: Yes, yes!
N: This is Ustinov Maxim Sergeevich, aide to Nikolay Platonovich Patrushev [former FSB chief]. I received your number from Vladimir Mikhailovich Bogdanov [head of the FSB’s special technology centre]. I apologise for the early hour, but I urgently require 10 minutes of your time.
K: Alright.
“Maxim” explains that he has been told to investigate what went wrong in the operation to poison Navalny. He says he has to ask Kudryavtsev and other members of his FSB unit a few questions, including why the plot failed.
K: There are always nuances, there are always nuances in every job. The whole situation turned out, as it were, on one side... well, I don’t know how to say it properly here…
N: Well?
K: .. Well, they landed [the plane], and the situation developed in a way that… Not in our favour, I think. If it had been a little longer, I think the situation could have gone differently.
N: A little longer what, Konstantin Borisovich?
K: Flying.
N: Flying a little longer?
K: Well, maybe, yes, if it had flown a little longer and they hadn’t landed it abruptly somehow and so on, maybe it all would have gone differently. That is, if it hadn’t been for the prompt work of the medics, the paramedics on the landing strip, and so on.
Kudryavtsev said he travelled to Omsk on 25 August – five days after the poisoning – as part of a clean-up operation. His job was to remove traces of the nerve agent novichok from Navalny’s clothes.
K: They treated it with solutions, that it wasn’t… ohhhh… how to say it… treated it so there wouldn’t be any marks there, nothing like that.
N: All the things were treated?
K: No, not all of them at first. First there were the basic ones: suits, underpants, all that stuff. While we were going, another box was brought in, everything, everything had already been processed there the last time.
N: On the things, is there any chance that Navalny’s wife, or someone at the hospital, cut off a piece of clothing and it got…
K: No.
N: There is no such possibility?
K: No. Everything was in one piece. There were no traces of cutting and so on.
N: In your opinion, how did the Germans eventually discover it all?
K: Well, they got the Bundeswehr involved. They have military chemists working there. Maybe they have some methods of detection.
During the 49-minute conversation “Maxim” presses Kudryavtsev for details of how Navalny was poisoned.
N: And on which piece of cloth was your focus on? Which garment had the highest risk factor?
K: The underpants.
N: The underpants.
K: A risk factor in what sense?
N: Where the concentration [of novichok] could be highest?
K: Well, the underpants.
N: Do you mean from the inner side or from the outer?..
K: Well, we were processing the inner side. This is what we were doing.
N: Well, imagine some underpants in front of you, which part did you process?
K: The inner, where the groin is.
N: The groin?
K: Well, the crotch, as they call it. There is some sort of seams there, by the seams.
N: Wait, this is important. Who gave you the order to process the codpiece of the underpants?
K: We figured this on our own. They told us to work on the inner side of the underpants.
N: I am writing it down. The inner side. Ok… Do you remember the underwear’s colour?
K: Blue. But I am not sure..
N: And they are whole, I mean theoretically we [FSB] could give them back? We are not going to do this, but they are undamaged and everything is ok with them?
K: Yes, all is clear.
N: Visually, nothing would be discovered? There are no spots, nothing?
K: No, no. Everything is fine, they are in good condition, clean.
N: Do you think this was a mistake — the method of administration?
K: Well, this is not my call.
N: What is your opinion?
K: This is what my superiors have decided, therefore, it is probably correct. The method is a good one.
N: Well, he remains alive, therefore, it is not that good. Do you understand what I am saying?
K: Well, I already said that the circumstances developed in a way for the situation to be as it is. There was contact – therefore the penetration was good enough. Those decisions depend on the situation and the experience.