DISINFO: The Bellingcat report on Navalny’s “poisoning” was for the electoral college to vote for Biden
SUMMARY
The timing for the media campaign promoting the narrative of the “poisoning” of Alexei Navalny is perfect as always. The Bellingcat report was published before the voting in the US electoral college, scheduled for December 14, apparently serving as a reminder for all US citizens and especially for those who handle the strings of power that they can’t let their guard down regarding Russia. It seems that those reports are designed to be integrated into the political agenda of the administration of the elected president Joe Biden, who repeatedly said during his campaign that he would adopt strong measures against Russia if he reached to the top, and specifically condemned the “Russian state” for the alleged “poisoning” of opposition blogger Navalny.
RESPONSE
This is part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign on the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, aiming to deflect any Russian responsibility on the incident by falsely framing it as a false flag operation with obscure motivations. The claim that the Bellingcat report on the FSB unit involved in this poisoning had anything to do with the voting in the US electoral college or Joe Biden is unsubstantiated.
There is massive evidence proving that Navalny was targeted in a poisoning operation, as established by initial clinical findings at the Charité hospital which indicated that he had been poisoned with a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors. Subsequent toxicological tests established the presence of a Novichok-type chemical nerve agent in Navalny's blood.
On 14 December 2020, a special investigation by Bellingcat, The Insider, CNN and Der Spiegel identified members of the Russian FSB unit involved in the attempt on Navalny’s life. According to The New York Times, the report was also consistent with the information on the case gathered by German intelligence services. Bellingcat also provided a detailed account of the methods used to identify the FSB operatives. A week later, on 21 December, Bellingcat has disclosed a recorded conversation in which a member of the suspected FSB poison squad describes how his unit carried out, and attempted to clean up evidence of, the poisoning of Alexey Navalny.
See other examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives on Alexei Navalny’s poisoning in our database, such as claims that only caffeine and alcohol were found in his blood, that the US wanted to use it to block Russia's vaccine against coronavirus, that the West hopes that he dies to have an excuse for new sanctions, or that Western accusations on Navalny’s case are as false as they were about Sergei Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko.
This disinformation message appeared in the same article than the claim that “The Bellingcat report on Navalny’s 'poisoning' aimed to destroy Nord Stream 2”.