Navalny ridicules Russian intelligence chief for suggestion he may have been poisoned by NATO as a ‘sacred sacrifice’

Alexey Navalny has accused the head of the Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of being a “simple idiot,” after he indicated that the anti-corruption campaigner could have been poisoned by the West in a “sacrifice.”

Writing on Twitter, Navalny said he is “sad to see what Russian intelligence has become,” attacking SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin.

In an interview published on Friday, Naryshkin told the Moscow-based news agency RIA Novosti that, about a year ago, NATO intelligence agencies discussed sacrificing a Russian opposition figure to revive anti-government demonstrations. According to the intelligence chief, the country's protest movement has “completely shrunk and is approaching zero.”

“You know, the issue of a so-called 'sacred sacrifice' was discussed at a high level,” Naryshkin claimed. “Moreover, it was said that it would be better if this 'sacred sacrifice' was one of the leaders of the opposition.”

However, he stopped short of directly linking Western intelligence agencies to the poisoning of Navalny.On the same day, Navalny retweeted a news story about the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs linking his illness to possible dietary issues. In response, the opposition figure wrote that he is “tired of laughing,” noting that it was suggested he was poisoned by the West on the very same day that the Ministry pointed the blame at his food intake.

“Apparently, NATO countries persuaded me to go on a deadly diet,” he wrote.

On August 20, Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. After an emergency landing in Omsk, he was taken to a local hospital, where he fell into a coma. Two days later, he was flown to the Charite clinic in Berlin at the request of his family and associates. After testing, German toxicologists discovered that the anti-corruption activist had been poisoned with a substance from the Novichok group of nerve agents. This claim has been denied by Russian doctors, who say that they did not find any trace of poison in his body. In October, Brussels approved sanctions against six senior Russian officials and one research institute, believed by the EU to be responsible for or have known about the alleged attack.

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