'I just knew I was dying': Navalny gave his first interview after poisoning

Alexey Navalny gave his first big interview after the poisoning to Der Spiegel magazine. The most important of this conversation is quoted by «Medusa». Next - from the first person.

Photo: Shutterstock

About well-being

I feel much better than three weeks ago: better every day. Not so long ago I could only climb 10 steps, and now I am already climbing to the fifth floor. And most importantly, my mental abilities returned to me. My biggest problem is sleep: I can't sleep without sleeping pills. The doctors say that I will recover 90 or 100 percent, but in fact, no one really knows for sure. Now I am in the position of a guinea pig. Probably, someday they will write about me in medical journals.

About poisoning

The day was wonderful, I was flying home after a tiring but successful business trip. At the beginning of the flight, as at the airport, I felt good. What happened next is very difficult to describe, because it is impossible to compare with anything. It's like a DDoS attack on a computer: an overload that breaks down the nervous system. I felt that I could not concentrate, that I had a cold sweat. First I asked [my press secretary] Kira Yarmysh for a handkerchief, then I asked her to talk to me, then I asked the flight attendants for water, and then I decided that I had to go to the toilet.

I sat on the toilet, washed myself with cold water, and then I realized: if I don't open the door now, I will die here. There was no pain, but I knew that I was dying. I left the toilet and said to the flight attendant: "I was poisoned, I am dying." Then I remember how I was lying on the floor, and he looked at me with surprise and a smile, apparently thinking that I was served stale chicken. I remember being asked about heart problems. But nothing hurt me at all - I just knew I was dying.

Then the voices became quieter, the woman began to tell me: "Do not switch off." Then the end. I understand that I am dead. On the Internet I watched a video recorded by one of the passengers, which was called "Navalny screams in pain." But it wasn't pain - pain makes you feel alive. And I just understood that this was the end. From the moment I felt that something strange was happening, half an hour passed until I lost consciousness.

Who is behind the poisoning

I claim that Vladimir Putin is behind the poisoning, and I have no other versions. I say this on the basis of facts, and the main one is "Newbie". Only two people can give an order to use or manufacture it - the head of the FSB or the SVR. Maybe another GRU. It is obvious that they cannot make such a decision without Putin's instructions.

On the subject: Belarus intercepted the 'conversation between Warsaw and Berlin' about Navalny: no one believed them

About Evgeny Prigogine

Does Prigozhin have access to Novichok? Unlikely - because then he probably would have poisoned half the world. Remember that he killed three Russian journalists in Africa.

Why Putin needs his death

If a month and a half ago they had told me that they would poison me with Novichok, I would have laughed. Putin fights the opposition in a different way: for example, with arrests and beatings. Chemical warfare agents are for traitors. But now, apparently, something has changed in Putin's head, although he knows that I am not an oligarch and not a secret agent, but a politician. Perhaps they decided that since the usual means of struggle against me did not help, they must go to extreme measures. Many believe that Putin is only interested in geopolitics, but this is not so. Look at Khabarovsk - people have been taking to the streets for over 80 days, and the Kremlin does not know what to do with them. The system is trying to survive, to take extreme measures to prevent the Belarusian scenario.

About a bottle from the hotel

I assume I got the poison through my skin by touching something. Then I took a bottle of water, drank from it, put it back and left the room - that's where the traces of poison come from. These footprints were not dangerous, there was a minimal amount of poison. He could not harm anyone.

Absence of other victims

I believe they learned from the Skripal poisoning when 48 people were infected and one woman died. Probably, the poison was not applied to the sink or shower - because I could not use them, or on the phone, which I could give to Kira Yarmysh, and instead of one suspicious death there would be two. I'm just thinking: it was probably some more complex poison, and it was applied to a thing that only I touch.

Photo: instagram.com/navalny

About why he was released from the country

I think they didn’t want to let me out of the country - that’s why they said that I was not in a transportable state. But thanks to the support of supporters and the actions of my wife, the situation turned into a reality show "Navalny is dying in Omsk." And people didn't want to watch it. It was important for Putin that I did not receive the status of a victim, that I did not receive political capital, even posthumous capital, so I was eventually released. I think they waited 48 hours because they hoped the poison would not be found in the end.

About Angela Merkel's visit

It was completely unexpected - the door opened into the ward and my doctor and Merkel entered. I will not talk about the details of the conversation, but we did not discuss anything secret, her visit was just an indicative gesture. I was impressed with how well she understands what is happening in Russia and understands the situation. When I talked to her, I understood why she has been at the top of German politics for so long.

On the subject: 'Russia must explain itself': German authorities say Navalny was poisoned with Novichok group poison

About surveillance

I have been constantly monitored since 2012, often very openly - by the FSB, the “E” center and other departments. I think the article in Moskovsky Komsomolets is a public statement by the secret services responsible for surveillance that they were not involved in the poisoning. There was definitely no order at the level of the entire FSB to kill Navalny.

The day after Navalny's poisoning, Moskovsky Komsomolets published a material in which, with reference to anonymous sources in the security forces, it was said that during Navalny's trip to Siberia, he was under secret surveillance. In the article, the publication described in detail what the politician did before the poisoning.

Return to Russia

I will return to Russia because otherwise it will mean that Putin has achieved his goal. Now my job is to remain a person who is not afraid. And I'm not afraid. I will not give Putin such a gift as my emigration. Of course, I am worried about my family, thoughts arise: what if the poison was brought to my apartment, where my wife and children live? But they are not afraid. My task is to recover as soon as possible and then return to Russia.

About their further actions

I will continue to travel to the regions, stay in hotels, drink water in the rooms. From a political point of view, little will change - the struggle will continue between those who are fighting for freedom and those who want to throw us back into the past. They will use more and more sophisticated methods, but we will try to survive.

About hatred of representatives of the system

In my opinion, the chief doctor of the Omsk hospital is even worse than agents of the special services - for them, murder is at least part of their profession. And he knew everything what was happening to me, but he told the world about metabolic disorders and that I drank too much. Do I hate people who called themselves doctors, but really wanted to wait for me to die? Probably. Do I want to draw out a sword and cut off their heads? No, because I am for the rule of law - they should be tried in a fair court.

On the crisis in relations between Russia and Germany

For a long time it was considered impossible that Putin would risk a conflict with Berlin, but now that time has come, like the time for political assassinations in Russia. The German government has taken a very clear position, probably not because of me - it rather means that they are aware of the dangerous path that Russia is taking. It is up to Germany to stop Nord Stream 2 or not, but sanctions against Russia are generally useless. We need targeted punishments for the beneficiaries of a corrupt system so that they can no longer enjoy life in the West.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• On the morning of August 20, during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, the founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), Alexei Navalny, felt sick on the plane. The liner made an emergency landing in Omsk, where Navalny was hospitalized in the emergency hospital No. 1, in the toxic intensive care unit. There the politician fell into a coma.
• Ex-FSB officer and opposition politician Gennady Gudkov toldwhy Navalny's associates and other politicians call the version of the involvement of the special services a priority, as well as how and with what the oppositionist could have been poisoned.
• August 21, the wife of Alexei Navalny Julia signed permission to transport her husband for treatment in Germany. On the morning of August 22, Navalny taken by plane to Berlin... He was still in a coma.
• The clinic where Navalny was taken confirmed the assumptions about his poisoning... Clinical studies have indicated a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors.
• Transportation of an opposition politician to Germany on a special medical plane paid for by Russian businessman Boris Ziminwho now lives in the United States.
• In the United States Department of Commerce сообщилиthat Washington has good reason to believe that the research institutes (SRIs) of the Russian Defense Ministry are involved in the development of chemical and biological weapons.
• September 4th German laboratory found traces of Novichok in Navalny's skin, blood and urine samples.
• On September 7, the Charite clinic, where Alexei Navalny was located, released a new message: politics brought out of an artificial coma and began to gradually disconnect from the ventilator.
• On September 10, it became known that Navalny completely recovered, memory and speech returned to him.
• September 15 politician for the first time since poisoning posted a photo on Instagram. The New York Times writes that he intends to return to Russia.
• On September 23rd, the clinic announced that Navalny was discharged... In total, he spent 32 days in a German hospital.

Read also on ForumDaily:

A bottle with traces of poison: a new version of Navalny's poisoning has appeared

Alexei Navalny nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

Berlin Clinic Returns 'Putin's Chef' A Million Intended For Navalny's Treatment

'Hello, this is Navalny': the politician published the first photo after the poisoning

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.